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Roads: Ontario/GTA Highways Discussion
- Thread starter Haljackey
- Start date
whydidimakethis
Active Member
I think it should be kept as a "bypass", not so much of a local highway. The 412 and 418 both only have one full interchange between the 401 and 407.
innsertnamehere
Superstar
they have additional ones futureproofed though. In the case of the 412, I can see the Rossland Road interchange happening sooner rather than later, especially since it is no longer tolled.
innsertnamehere
Superstar
Looking at Ontario's Highway program mapping I have noticed a few new additions to the "Expansion" category. Let me know if any of these actually aren't new, but I don't recall seeing anything on them before.
1. Highway 6 interchange in Waterdown - this has been on the wish list for years and is badly needed, especially with the Morriston Bypass happening on the other end of Highway 6.
2. Sixth Line Interchange on Highway 400 in Innisfil - This is a new interchange designed to handle growth in Innisfil. The EA was completed by the town of Innisfil.
3. Highway 40 twinning around Sarnia - fills in the gap between the 402 and the already-twinned part of 40 further south as a bypass around Sarnia itself.
4. Highway 6 interchanges in Guelph - these had detailed design initiated a while ago, but it would make 6 a full freeway from the 401 to Wellington St. Good to see them identified for actual construction.
I'm surprised to see these listed without the pre-requisite ministers announcement.
1. Highway 6 interchange in Waterdown - this has been on the wish list for years and is badly needed, especially with the Morriston Bypass happening on the other end of Highway 6.
2. Sixth Line Interchange on Highway 400 in Innisfil - This is a new interchange designed to handle growth in Innisfil. The EA was completed by the town of Innisfil.
3. Highway 40 twinning around Sarnia - fills in the gap between the 402 and the already-twinned part of 40 further south as a bypass around Sarnia itself.
4. Highway 6 interchanges in Guelph - these had detailed design initiated a while ago, but it would make 6 a full freeway from the 401 to Wellington St. Good to see them identified for actual construction.
I'm surprised to see these listed without the pre-requisite ministers announcement.
timio
Active Member
To be fair, this has been on the books for decades. I grew up in the area and remember hearing about this as a kid 30+ years ago. It may be expedited by the city's high capacity load corridor they've been working on to safely get materials from the docks to the refineries in the Chemical Valley. While the highway isn't really over-capacity, it does get slow through the 2-lane stretch if you get caught behind a line of trucks making deliveries.
ericmacm
Active Member
I've had to drive through this section a number of times recently, it does get pretty busy and packed in the 2-lane section. It'll be nice to see this widening happen. As soon as you go on 40 southbound towards Chatham though, it becomes empty very quickly.
There's some major new industrial development happening in the area though (Nova Chemicals AST Polyethylene on Rokeby and Crown Royal Distillery on Moore) so I'm hoping the highway begins to get used a little more.
ShonTron
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Is there a link to this?
Northern Light
Superstar
Mapping Program: (for MTO projects)
Ontario’s highway programs
Learn about the 2024 Ontario highways program. Find highway expansion and rehabilitation projects that are planned or underway.
Filters on the left of the map
Double click on map to zoom
innsertnamehere
Superstar
Today's provincial budget will also apparently include widening the 401 east of Toronto from Pickering to Oshawa:
nationalpost.com
Ontario budget today includes widening Hwy. 401 east of Toronto, twinning QEW bridge
The budget announcement is expected to stand as the Progressive Conservative government's election platform
nationalpost.com
Northern Light
Superstar
Today's provincial budget will also apparently include widening the 401 east of Toronto from Pickering to Oshawa:
Ontario budget today includes widening Hwy. 401 east of Toronto, twinning QEW bridge
The budget announcement is expected to stand as the Progressive Conservative government's election platform
Fundamentally wrong.
And even comically absurd.
GO's Lakeshore East corridor runs almost entirely parallel to the 401 here, the answer to alleviating traffic in this corridor is self-evident, 15-minute (or better), all-day GO
Service, lower GO Fares, lower-regional fares for TTC-DRT connections, and more frequent DRT service.
When all of that is done, along w/the Bomanville extension of GO then, and only then, should we revisit the idea of widening the 401, and then, only with great reluctance.
just east of the creek
Active Member
I agree, but please, oh please, may we have 15 minute service on the western portion of the Lakeshore GO as well.
One other thing to remember is that the net debt of Ontario must now have moved past $400 billion. In 2021 servicing this debt at low interest rates consumed about 8 or 9% of Ontario's revenue. As the era of cheap, cheap money continues to fade into the rear view mirror, the pressure on Ontario's revenues related to servicing this debt will continue to grow. And that may drive some very hard choices on funding programs and infrastructure in Ontario. The same holds true for the feds of course, but on a larger scale. The net debt of the Federal Government is somewhere north of $950 billion.
One other thing to remember is that the net debt of Ontario must now have moved past $400 billion. In 2021 servicing this debt at low interest rates consumed about 8 or 9% of Ontario's revenue. As the era of cheap, cheap money continues to fade into the rear view mirror, the pressure on Ontario's revenues related to servicing this debt will continue to grow. And that may drive some very hard choices on funding programs and infrastructure in Ontario. The same holds true for the feds of course, but on a larger scale. The net debt of the Federal Government is somewhere north of $950 billion.
Northern Light
Superstar
Tolls and Higher taxes will need to be part of the discussion sooner rather than later.
Part of how soon the pain kicks in will be a question of how much of Canada's low-interest debt is short-term vs long-term.
****
Back to the point and post at hand, I would certainly support higher levels of service on the LSW and I do believe that's in the offing; again, hopefully relatively soon.
jgreene15
New Member
For Item 4. Is that separate from the Highway 6 portion south of Highway 401 (Morriston Bypass)? Both appear on the highways program.
innsertnamehere
Superstar
Yes - the Morriston Bypass package includes a new interchange south of Laird Drive to make 6 a Freeway down to the 401, which I believe is starting construction this year.
The new one I haven't seen an official funding announcement is for new interchanges/bridges at Kortright, Stone, and College.
innsertnamehere
Superstar
Regarding Durham, I do think some widening is needed east of Ajax. The EA-approved plan is to extend the collector-express lanes to the 412 then have 10 lanes to the 418, and 8 lanes to 35. That's a little overkill right now, but I could also understand doing it all at once.
Extending 10 lanes to the 412 and 8 lanes to Bloor St would likely be enough for a while. Definitely don't need extra lanes past Bloor right now, the money would be better spent extending the 6-lane part of the 401 further east.
Lakeshore East service was already at 15-minute service pre-pandemic. I fully expect GO Expansion to offset a lot of highway expansion needs in the GTA, but the 401 through Durham likely can't really be avoided that much, it serves trips which can't be served by the Lakeshore line (i.e. not downtown). Most people in Durham who are heading to downtown Toronto already take the train.
Extending 10 lanes to the 412 and 8 lanes to Bloor St would likely be enough for a while. Definitely don't need extra lanes past Bloor right now, the money would be better spent extending the 6-lane part of the 401 further east.
Lakeshore East service was already at 15-minute service pre-pandemic. I fully expect GO Expansion to offset a lot of highway expansion needs in the GTA, but the 401 through Durham likely can't really be avoided that much, it serves trips which can't be served by the Lakeshore line (i.e. not downtown). Most people in Durham who are heading to downtown Toronto already take the train.