Allandale25
Senior Member
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New Anne Street bridge in Barrie to open to traffic this week
Following months of anticipation, numerous delays, and detours, the Anne Street bridge in Barrie is finally set to open this week.
This is very evident when driving on it, everything is already set up for a twin span. I am most excited about the realignment of the mess at Wonderland, Ron McNeil, and HWY 3 into an actual intersection.The St. Thomas Expressway was built with the eventual twinning in mind. In the 1970s, the province was planning for a new city near Port Dover, which was only partially developed. So it’s interesting to see this finally happen.
And yet, there’s not even a bus between London and St. Thomas.
I am most excited about the realignment of the mess at Wonderland, Ron McNeil, and HWY 3 into an actual intersection.
There absolutely needs to be a bus running down to St. Thomas. I am really hoping that they end up running from the end of the future south BRT leg along Wellington.
Great to see, honestly, considering this will improve access to YHM and further stimulate the AEGD. However, as we ask more and more of the 403, I can’t help but think that the Mid-Pen (at least the 407-403 section thru Halton-Flamborough-Ancaster) was prematurely thrown out. I really don’t want to see the 403 widened up the mountain to accommodate the airports growth, as any effort/infra put into that could be used for public transport instead.Speaking of 2-lane expressways intended to be upgraded to full expressways at some point, Hamilton's Highway 6 widening study is also progressing. A public information meeting was held in November which indicates that the Province appears to intend to build interchanges along the corridor, and not simply provide a twinned roadway with signalized intersections:
Consultation – Highway 6 South Widening
hwy6southwideninghamilton.ca
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Some rather interesting options for the Upper James intersection:
View attachment 483222
Really great to see. If YHM is supposed to become the major secondary airport and industrial hub for the GGH, it makes sense to future-proof and build to accommodate that growth.Speaking of 2-lane expressways intended to be upgraded to full expressways at some point, Hamilton's Highway 6 widening study is also progressing. A public information meeting was held in November which indicates that the Province appears to intend to build interchanges along the corridor, and not simply provide a twinned roadway with signalized intersections:
Consultation – Highway 6 South Widening
hwy6southwideninghamilton.ca
View attachment 483220
View attachment 483221
Some rather interesting options for the Upper James intersection:
View attachment 483222
Ideally I'd love to see rail service restored one day all the way from London to Port Stanley. No issues drinking on the beach then if you live in downtown London.
Throwing out the Mid-Pen was and is the right choice to make - this year, next year and any year after that.Great to see, honestly, considering this will improve access to YHM and further stimulate the AEGD. However, as we ask more and more of the 403, I can’t help but think that the Mid-Pen (at least the 407-403 section thru Halton-Flamborough-Ancaster) was prematurely thrown out. I really don’t want to see the 403 widened up the mountain to accommodate the airports growth, as any effort/infra put into that could be used for public transport instead.
Throwing out the Mid-Pen was and is the right choice to make - this year, next year and any year after that.
Agreed. In this case the 'just one more lane bro' approach will work. 6 lane the 403 up to Highway 6 and call it a day. That should be sufficient to service the expanding Hamilton airport and is far cheaper and less disruptive vs building the Mid-Pen.
Firstly, I’ll say I’m not suggesting we go and start building highways through sensitive areas as if that isn’t a worthy consideration. I’m doing a mental balancing exercise of how to best manage needs and priorities, primarily to create better long term outcomes (at least for Hamiltonians) with minimal negative externalities- I’ll try to explain my logic.Throwing out the Mid-Pen was and is the right choice to make - this year, next year and any year after that.
Thanks for the info, your always on top of providing great stuff (here and on SSP!) which I really appreciate.MTOs studies on the matter determined that widening the 403 was far less impactful over the long term. Building the Mid-Penn needs a bypass around Dundas to connect to the 401 in Milton or to the 407 east of Waterdown and that passes through a ton of very environmentally sensitive areas and needs a new crossing of the escarpment. Widening the 403 not only is a much more efficient route which is faster for most trips, but it’s far less environmentally damaging.
There is a small central median on the escarpment climb which could probably be converted to a 3rd northbound lane on the 403 pretty easily with minimal environmental damage. If MTO wants a new 4th climbing lane as well they can probably do it with a small retaining wall.
Remember as well that the 403 was built on a large embankment in the 1960’s - the existing slope to the west of the 403, although now we’ll treed, is entirely artificial. The damage has already been “done” so to speak.