Roads: Ontario/GTA Highways Discussion

[ARG1]

Toronto is way off the Trans Canada route? Why should that route pass through Toronto in the first place?

The TransCanada highway can be seen serving 2 purposes. First its a signifier of the main route across the country, or the main artery to get from east to west. This is both used as a demarcation for major cross continental truck routes, as well as roads people can take to see the country so to speak. All TransCanada routes service this goal quite well... with the exception of the Southern Ontario one. Exactly what purpose does it serve? What major trips are being taken when someone drives from Ottawa to Peterborough along Highway 7, then turns north on Highway 12. This route literally ignores all major population centres (Kingston, Cornwall, basically the entire gtha, Barrie) to serve what, Peterborough, Orillia, and some towns along Highway 7 no one has ever heard of?

All of this makes this route one of the most out of place TransCanada Highway routes in the entire system with maybe the exception of the northern Quebec Route.

 

[Deadpool X]

There are many highways interconnecting Trans Canada. Someone who is destined for Toronto can make a small effort of turning their steering wheel and move to a highway leading to Toronto. Why should people going straight east to west need to take a circuitous route?

 

[W. K. Lis]

One way to get federal funding for a highway. At a cost for signs.

From 2019...
From link.

Massive funding announced to improve section of Trans-Canada Highway in B.C.​

A small but traffic-troubled section of the Trans-Canada Highway in B.C.’s mountainous Interior will be undergoing a $121-million upgrade.

On Thursday, the provincial government announced that it will be spending $71.5 million on a 4.4-kilometre section between Glacier National Park and the town of Golden. The federal government, meanwhile, said it will be adding $49.9 million towards the project.

From link.

 

[lenaitch]

The federal government provides highway funding through various strategic federal-provincial/territorial partnerships, probably under Infrastructure Canada. The fact that a particular piece of highway gets federal support probably has less to do with it being part of the TCH than it does being part of the National Highway System.

There are a number of areas that the THC doesn't touch, including Halifax and all of S/W Ontario. It is not an avatar for the US Interstate system.

 

[innsertnamehere]

The trans Canada highway is basically pointless in Ontario and Quebec. It has more actual relevance out west though.

 

[Transportfan]

Toronto is way off the Trans Canada route? Why should that route pass through Toronto in the first place?

Why does being strictly a direct transcontinental route need to be the only role of the TCH? If a branch already diverges to pass through Orillia and Peterborough, then why not have another go a bit more south to serve the country's most important east-west corridor?

 

[Haljackey]

The trans Canada highway is basically pointless in Ontario and Quebec. It has more actual relevance out west though.

It would at least be nice if the route was signed #1 throughout the country. Why does #1 turn into #17 at the Manitoba/Ontario border? The lack of consistency is simply dumb.

17/417 should be resigned as #1. Same with the routes the main trunk of the Trans-Canada follows in Quebec. #2 in new Brunswick should also be resigned #1 as well as the routes in Nova Scotia.

 

[ARG1]

It would at least be nice if the route was signed #1 throughout the country. Why does #1 turn into #17 at the Manitoba/Ontario border? The lack of consistency is simply dumb.

17/417 should be resigned as #1. Same with the routes the main trunk of the Trans-Canada follows in Quebec. #2 in new Brunswick should also be resigned #1 as well as the routes in Nova Scotia.

The reason its #1 in most of the country is because those provinces mutually agreed to have it be #1 (and #16 for the Yellowhead Highway). Highway 1 in BC is technically British Columbia Highway 1, they just have their own logo for that route specifically (that just happens to match the logo in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba). However for many of the provinces, doing so would completely break how their highway system is numbered. You could rename Highway 17 to Highway 1, but what do you do with the 417? I don't think Ontario wants to downgrade a 400 series highway to just a regular highway and break their naming consistency even more just to have a consistent Highway 1, and in Quebec/Nova Scotia this is even more of a problem since they have an even more consistent and organized highway system. In Quebec they have odd numbered highways for north south routes, even highways for east west routes, and the highways go up in number as you go north, and east respectively. Breaking all of that just to have a highway that jumps from highway to highway (the main TCH route goes through 4 different highways as well as a provincial road from end to end in Quebec) would just be silly.

Nova Scotia has a similar setup to Ontario where all of the arterial routes are "100 series" and the number corresponds to the trunk route that typically runs parallel to it (so the 104 runs next to Highway 4, the 102 runs next to Highway 2, and etc.) Not only would Nova Scotia have to reorganize its highways, but they would also have to change how the arterial-trunk relationship works since best case scenerio, the 104 will be renamed to the 101 and not the one. This also doesn't mention how on Cape Breton, the main TCH route jumps from the 104 to the 105 so you still have that to worry about.

Finally an inverse case. Prince Edward Island has a TCH branch running through it labelled as "PEI-1", and is named as such because its the main highway running through most of the province. However as a branch, it connects to NB Highway 16, and NS Highway 106 respectively, which are branches off of the main TCH route. Should PEI 1 be renumbered to something else since its a different TCH branch altogether?

 

[ShonTron]

Halifax is also off the route - the largest city in Atlantic Canada.

The TCH was the only major federally-funded highway project; it helped poorer provinces upgrade existing highways and helped richer ones fund technically challenging sections faster, such as the Lake Superior section of Highway 17.

Ontario used the federal funds to upgrade Highway 69 and build Highway 103 (which became part of a rerouted 69 and is now part of Highway 400) and build bypasses around Parry Sound, Orillia, Lindsay, Peterborough, Madoc, and Carleton Place on the southern route. They took advantage of the funds to upgrade important highway projects across Northern, Central, and Eastern Ontario. In the Ottawa Valley, Highway 17 was upgraded as well, with new bypasses in places like Arnprior, Pembroke, and Hawkesbury, and of course, the Queensway in Ottawa.

 

[ShonTron]

The reason its #1 in most of the country is because those provinces mutually agreed to have it be #1 (and #16 for the Yellowhead Highway). Highway 1 in BC is technically British Columbia Highway 1, they just have their own logo for that route specifically (that just happens to match the logo in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba). However for many of the provinces, doing so would completely break how their highway system is numbered. You could rename Highway 17 to Highway 1, but what do you do with the 417? I don't think Ontario wants to downgrade a 400 series highway to just a regular highway and break their naming consistency even more just to have a consistent Highway 1, and in Quebec/Nova Scotia this is even more of a problem since they have an even more consistent and organized highway system. In Quebec they have odd numbered highways for north south routes, even highways for east west routes, and the highways go up in number as you go north, and east respectively. Breaking all of that just to have a highway that jumps from highway to highway (the main TCH route goes through 4 different highways as well as a provincial road from end to end in Quebec) would just be silly.

Nova Scotia has a similar setup to Ontario where all of the arterial routes are "100 series" and the number corresponds to the trunk route that typically runs parallel to it (so the 104 runs next to Highway 4, the 102 runs next to Highway 2, and etc. Not only would Nova Scotia have to reorganize its highways, but they would also have to change how the arterial-trunk relationship works since best case scenerio, the 104 will be renamed to the 101 and not the one. This also doesn't mention how on Cape Breton, the main TCH route jumps from the 104 to the 105 so you still have that to worry about.

Finally an inverse case. Prince Edward Island has a TCH branch running through it labelled as "PEI-1", and is named as such because its the main highway running through most of the province. However as a branch, it connects to NB Highway 16, and NS Highway 106 respectively, which are branches off of the main TCH route. Should PEI 1 be renumbered to something else since its a different TCH branch altogether?

There was an effort to create a consistent interprovincial highway in Eastern Canada at one time. Highway 2 in Ontario connected to Highway 2 in Quebec, which connected to Highway 2 in New Brunswick, which connected to Highway 2 in Nova Scotia.

Highway 2 ended up being superseded by Highway 401 in Ontario, in Quebec, the highway system was completely renumbered, but Highway 2 in New Brunswick is still the most important highway there, and in Nova Scotia, Highway 2 still runs to Halifax, though it was superseded by Highways 104 and 102.

 

[Kitsune]

.. on highway 69 .. they are now using the new route through french river - however one of the two bridges is a year behind schedule.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/highway-69-four-laning-french-river-bridges-1.6015957

.. and for anyone that has to deal with the Little Current Swing Bridge on Manitoulin Island it will be a getting a like for like replacement except it will be a two-lane two way bridge vs the single lane of the existing bridge:

New swing bridge gets nod from MTO - Local

New swing bridge gets nod from MTO Local -

www.manitoulin.com

 

[Transportfan]

However for many of the provinces, doing so would completely break how their highway system is numbered. You could rename Highway 17 to Highway 1, but what do you do with the 417? I don't think Ontario wants to downgrade a 400 series highway to just a regular highway and break their naming consistency even more just to have a consistent Highway 1

The 417 didn't even exist when the TCH was built (and the exception to the 400-series numbering could have been retained later). And Ontario didn't even have a Highway 1 so there was no reason not to number it 1.

 

[ARG1]

The 417 didn't even exist when the TCH was built (and the exception to the 400-series numbering could have been retained later). And Ontario didn't even have a Highway 1 so there was no reason not to number it 1.

There is actually a reason why there is no Highway 1. When Ontario was buildings its highways, they had a hard time deciding where to put Highway 1 since every municipality wanted to be accessed by it. Their solution was to not have a Highway 1.

 

[W. K. Lis]

From link.

Did Ontario ever have a Highway 1?
A.	Ontario did not ever legally designate a Highway 1. The highway numbering began at Highway 2.
Q.	Does the Queen Elizabeth Way have a route number?
A.	In a way yes, but the route number is not posted anywhere along the highway. The QEW is sometimes referred to internally by the Ministry of Transportation as either "Highway 1" or "Highway 451". These numbers are used on internal Ministry documents and for accounting purposes, but they are not used externally or posted on the highway. They are merely reference numbers given to this otherwise "unnumbered" highway. The highway's legal designation has always been "The Queen Elizabeth Way".
Q.	Why does Ontario not have a Highway 1?
A.	The exact reason is not clear, but reportedly, Highway 1 was omitted from the 1925 route numbering system to eliminate conflicts between many of Ontario's larger towns, who all demanded to be on a highway bearing the route number "1". Given the geographic shape of Ontario, it would have been impossible for the Department of Highways to number a route that would pass through every major town in Ontario. Rather than risk any accusations of favouritism, the Department decided that they would simply not designate a Highway 1, and thus began the route numbering at 2.

---

From link.

Queen Elizabeth Way, connecting Toronto with Niagara Falls and Fort Erie, Ont, was Canada's first 4-lane, controlled-access superhighway. Using the latest concepts in streamlined design, the highway was built to overcome local traffic bottlenecks and to open the province to US motorists entering via the Peace Bridge at Fort Erie. Construction began in the early 1930s on the Toronto-Burlington section, first called the Middle Road. The highway was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth, queen consort of King George VI, at St Catharines, 7 June 1939. Four lanes of pavement were completed to Fort Erie in 1956.

The 400-series designations were introduced in 1952. So the QEW could have been Highway No. 1.

 

[Transportfan]

There is actually a reason why there is no Highway 1. When Ontario was buildings its highways, they had a hard time deciding where to put Highway 1 since every municipality wanted to be accessed by it. Their solution was to not have a Highway 1.

I heard it was more about which trans-provincial corridor (north or south) to follow. It should've been an obvious choice, especially since the northern corridor was the national route which was mostly scratch-built later.