Roads: Ontario/GTA Highways Discussion

[GTS]

Agree, poor planning on the 401 in that part- goes from 5 lanes to 3 lanes in a short span! I think it should go from the 5 lanes to 4 lanes all the way to Oshawa (maybe 4 lanes each direction through Oshawa-Ajax. Some to the overpasses would need to be replaced but I think this is a neccesary project. Even if the 407 takes some load off the 401- it is still needed. It makes no sense to go from 5 lanes to 3 lanes so quickly.

 

[Copper1212]

Forget 5 lanes, it goes from a 7 lane C/E system down to 3 lanes in about a 5 km stretch. And as someone mentioned earlier, a lot of the traffic is coming from trucks, recreational and long distance travel on top of people commuting. Basically people who have no intentions of getting off the highway as the number of lanes are dropping.

It also leads to massive spill over on nearby avenues. I've tried using both Kingston Rd and Bayly St but they end up being just as bad as the 401. I don't know how the people in the area do it everyday.

 

[Woodbridge_Heights]

I'd like to see the 407 stretch in the west end (from the 407-403 to the 407-QEW-403) bought back from the private firm and made a free highway. In exchange, the Province would build a new toll highway extension of the 407 to Guelph (where it could potentially even run to K-W, but I would do that as a similar deal to the 407 East). Or even have that new 403 stretch have the same deal as the 407 East too, where it's government owned and toll revenues go to the Province.

I think we've discussed this topic previously and are generally on the same page, but...

Given that the GTA west highway (www.gta-west.com) is planned to meet the 407 and 401 at their interchange how about giving the portion of the 407 between the 403 and the 407 over to the GTA west highway (whatever number it will have) and allowing the 407 to continue west.

It may not look great as the gta west highway is envisioned as an E-W highway but it would certainly help rationalize some of the numbering of the highways in this part of the region.

 

[Paolo]

how about they give th GTA west highway a proper name like it was intended to, like umm the HIGHWAY 403. so the 403 will connect to the 403 with umm, yeah the 403. makes sense, duhh torries, good work breaking our hiway

 

[Woodbridge_Heights]

^^^

What are you talking about??? The GTA-West Corridor is north of the region. Connecting it with and naming it the 403 would still create an orphan highway segment between the 407 and and 410 interchanges.

Yes the 403 is dis-connected and yes we should look at ways to reconnect the two segments, but getting the gta-west corridor involved as becoming part of the 403 is not the right course of action. It's been discussed before by gweed, myself and others. Hand over the western portion of the 407 that was supposed to be the 403 originally back over to the 403, connecting the two segments. Terminate the 407 at it's interchange with the 401, or allow it to be extended Westward (as gweed suggested). Then take the short section of South-East to North-West highway, and give it a new highway name. And that's where the GTA-West corridor comes into play.

 

[Paolo]

ohh ok makes sense

 

[Haljackey]

When it became known that the 407 would use the 403's right of way and that the 403 segments would never link up, the MTO wanted to change the eastern part of the 403 to the 410.

Basically, the 403 would cease to exist in the GTA as the 410 would run all the way down to the QEW. The western part of the 403 (between the 401 and QEW/407) would remain signed as such.

Anyways there was a lot of public outcry as people grew accustomed to the highway as the 403 in Mississauga and others were confused why a north-south highway would turn and become east-west.

The workaround is what we see today: the 403 is co-signed with the QEW between the two segments, making it technically complete.

 

[TOareaFan]

and others were confused why a north-south highway would turn and become east-west.

....lol...those same people are not confused that the east-west highway turns and goes north-south?

 

[Transportfan]

To change the subject a bit to the issue of the Bradford Byass. If the MTO is reluctant to build it because it would destroy much of the Holland Marsh, why not build it just north of the Green Lane corridor? Building in along that more southerly corridor would also be better for incorporation as a potential future Hwy. 7 freeway between Kitchener and Peterborough.

 

[Voltz]

When it became known that the 407 would use the 403's right of way and that the 403 segments would never link up, the MTO wanted to change the eastern part of the 403 to the 410.

Basically, the 403 would cease to exist in the GTA as the 410 would run all the way down to the QEW. The western part of the 403 (between the 401 and QEW/407) would remain signed as such.

Anyways there was a lot of public outcry as people grew accustomed to the highway as the 403 in Mississauga and others were confused why a north-south highway would turn and become east-west.

The workaround is what we see today: the 403 is co-signed with the QEW between the two segments, making it technically complete.

I fail to see what the big deal is with the names of freeways and the continuity of the names, a much greater concern is where the freeways are and which parts of the network is tolled.

 

[nfitz]

I fail to see what the big deal is with the names of freeways and the continuity of the names, a much greater concern is where the freeways are and which parts of the network is tolled.

Seconded!

Though I have to admit that having the 403 change name to the 410 suddenly is rather bizarre, given that any plans to extend 403 east of 410 (where it would have intersected the 401/427/Richview interchange) and 410 south of 403 (where it would have turned into Cawthra) have long since been abandoned.

 

[Transportfan]

Seconded!

Though I have to admit that having the 403 change name to the 410 suddenly is rather bizarre,

No it isn't, because the 403 runs east-west, and the 410 runs north-south.

 

[nfitz]

No it isn't, because the 403 runs east-west, and the 410 runs north-south.

The 403 runs north-south from Eastgate all the way north to the 401, turning into the 410. Now if 403 became 410 at Eastgate, you might have a point.

 

[gweed123]

The whole 403 naming thing is just a mess in my opinion. I just hope that in some future plans it gets sorted out somehow, either by renaming existing sections, or by adding new sections of other highways (the 407 West) to make the naming make sense. Because it's pretty clear that the 403 is never going further east of where it is now, and the 410 is never going further south from where it is now (it was supposed to go all the way down to the QEW).

The 403 naming now is going to be almost as bad as what Highway 7/407 is going to be 10-15 years from now. The highway is basically going to have 3 distinct 4+ lane segments in it, with only one of which actually named 407 (the other 2 being between K-W & Guelph, and Carleton Place & Ottawa).

In terms of the Western GTA though, I think the biggest expressway priority should be completing what would become Highway 406 (I want the name of the current 406 in Welland changed to something else, because that makes no sense at all why it's named 406 when Highway 6 is over 40km away from it). From the Highway 407/406 interchange in Guelph, through an upgraded Hanlon Parkway, through the 401, and then down to the 403. Highway 6 between Hamilton and the 401 is crazy busy, and is only going to get busier.

 

[dunkalunk]

I'm of the belief that the GTA West corridor/highway 7 bypass will never be built much in the same way that the mid-peninsula corridor will never get built. Portions of it, perhaps, but as a full-fledged highway from Kitchener to Peterborough, not so much. Widening it to 4 lanes and putting in a median barrier/centre-left will do wonders for both capacity and safety of the existing Guelph-Kitchener highway and I doubt highly that in today's oil climate that the 401 will even need more than 8 lanes.