They also extended Highway 417 west from Panmure Rd to Arnprior, which opened in 2004 (I think). But yes, there have been relatively few transportation infrastructure projects of any kind in Ontario in the past decade or so.
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Roads: Ontario/GTA Highways Discussion
- Thread starter Haljackey
- Start date
They also extended Highway 417 west from Panmure Rd to Arnprior, which opened in 2004 (I think). But yes, there have been relatively few transportation infrastructure projects of any kind in Ontario in the past decade or so.
reaperexpress
Senior Member
The Red Hill Valley Parkway opened in 2007.
Haljackey
Active Member
The 400/417 extensions are more of a twinning project rather than something completely new, whereas the Windsor-Essex Parkway will be on a completely new alignment. Exceptions can be made on the new 400/69 bypass segments, which are quite massive in scale. I will agree with that. Red Hill was built by Hamilton, not the province.
Perhaps I should have been a bit more specific. Most project these days are the widening/twinning of existing routes.
Perhaps I should have been a bit more specific. Most project these days are the widening/twinning of existing routes.
Drove the 401 today coming back to Ottawa from Toronto, and the widening in Kingston is coming along quite nicely. I drive this route quite frequently, but never thought to actually post any updates on here.
It looks like they're doing a substantial reconfiguration at Division St. Specifically, they're taking a huge chunk out of the hill north of the 401, so that Division St doesn't go up the hill right after the 401. Overall though, the widening is taking place between Montreal St in the east, and west of Gardiner's Road in the west.
It looks like they're doing a substantial reconfiguration at Division St. Specifically, they're taking a huge chunk out of the hill north of the 401, so that Division St doesn't go up the hill right after the 401. Overall though, the widening is taking place between Montreal St in the east, and west of Gardiner's Road in the west.
Good point. But not to be nit-picky, but the 417 extension was built on a parallel alignment, it wasn't a twinning. The old Highway 17 is about 300m away from the new 417.
Also, they've been twinning and doing a new alignment for Highway 7 between the 417 and Carleton Place. They opened the first stage (Highway 417 to the Canadian Golf Club) in early 2010, and they just opened up the second stage (Canadian Golf Club to just outside Carleton Place) a month or so ago. They only have 1 interchange left to build, so it looks like it should be done in another couple months.
nfitz
Superstar
With all the bypasses on the new 400 replacing 69, there are many more kilometres of new alignment than there with this 401 extension.
What's the length? 10 km? The recent extension of Highway 410 was 8 km of completely brand new alignment. I'm not sure why you are discounting that one.
What about the 404 extension? There's about 16 km of completely new alignment underway there ... might be done sooner than the 401 extension.
It's good to see this ... but I don't see the need to overstate what it is.
Dan416
Senior Member
I don't understand why west-end highways like 410 and 427 get shafted with barely any extensions. And the 401 express-collector system extension is a joke, first phase only to Hurontario.
nfitz
Superstar
??? Both have been extended more recently than 404 - which is surely the only east-end expressway (unless you count 407 - which has been completed in the west for years, and has yet to be completed in the east.
??? First phase? They've been building that for years, there have been many, many phases.
Haljackey
Active Member
The 410 is slowly being extended in phases. I think it's planned to go to Orangeville and its proposed to potentially go as far as Owen Sound.
Highway 427 hasn't been extended further because there's debate what to do with the land north of Regional Road 7. Developers in the area want to buy the right of way to build houses. There is study going on if the extension ever happens: http://427corridor.com/427corridor/index.asp
At least something is getting done. The 401/403/410 junction was designed in mind with a extension of the collector-express system, unlike the 427/401 interchange.
I think the long term plans see Highway 401 with a collector-express system going to Mississauga Road, 10-12 lanes to 407, and 8+2 HOVs to Highway 8 in Kitchener. The 401 is also planned to get widened to 8-10 lanes in London as development here continues to encroach the highway.
doady
Senior Member
Is it really necessarily to extended 410 and 427? Orangeville and Bolton don't seem like major destinations. I think it would be better to improve connects to Northern Ontario, extend 400 and 417 to Sudbury, 411 to North Bay, maybe 417 to Sault Ste. Marie. Build highways for long-distance travel, not for commuting.
bobert_d
New Member
There's really nothing between Pettawawa and Mattawa, and essentially nothing from Pettawawa to North Bay to warrant twinning. Additional passing lanes is all that is needed here.. North Bay to the Sault, yeah it might be worthwhile to make it into a RIRO expressway, and building a better bypass around North Bay could be better since the current section is heavily congested since developement was allowed to encroach on the current right of way, and will become worse as time goes on (especially since the new Hospital that just opened is on a currently less traveled section.
A lot of places in Canada twin their major highways even though the traffic volumes don't necessarily warrant it. New Brunswick has been doing a lot of twinning (particularly the Trans Canada between the Quebec border and Fredericton, and Fredericton and Moncton). One thing I wish Ontario did more of is Super 2 highways (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Brunswick_Route_11). This would reduce the cost of twinning, but would still provide safety and speed enhancements over the traditional highway. Highway 50 in Quebec between Masson and Lachute is being built in this fashion as well. It may be something worth considering for future extensions of Highway 17/417.
lafard
Active Member
The big difference between the 400 extensions and the 401 extension is that the Windsor stretch is running through an urban area and involves a swath of mass expropriations (compare the Flash map to google maps of the area!) and other issues. It might be technically more difficult to blast it through the Shield but the land tenure issues when you're building on mostly crown land is much simpler.
As for other highways, the Transcanada is now 4 lanes from basically Banff or so to the Ontario border now, it has grade intersections but is 4 lanes all the way across with speed limits of 100 or 110. Other than the stretch between the Soo and Kenora (this is the big one), and between Kamloops and Banff, we're getting fairly close to having an actual cross-country highway.
As for other highways, the Transcanada is now 4 lanes from basically Banff or so to the Ontario border now, it has grade intersections but is 4 lanes all the way across with speed limits of 100 or 110. Other than the stretch between the Soo and Kenora (this is the big one), and between Kamloops and Banff, we're getting fairly close to having an actual cross-country highway.
doady
Senior Member
^ I agree it is not just about traffic volumes. I think it is a good idea to connect southern and northern Ontario regardless, unifying Ontario, and also one step closer to unifying all of Canada. Even the US built a freeway to Sault Ste Marie, and their Sault Ste. Marie is much smaller than Ontario's...
Agreed. Ontario is still the largest gap in the 4 lane Trans Canada Highway. The only portion east of Ottawa now that isn't is the stretch between Autoroute 20 in Quebec, to the QC-NB border (this stretch features my favourite-named town in all of Canada, Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha!). Everything east of there is 4 lanes as well. Ontario is dropping the ball in terms of a 4 lane Trans-Canada.