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Roads: Ontario/GTA Highways Discussion

jamincan said:
Just drove from Kirkland Lake to Kitchener today. Highway 11 isn't yet fully twinned despite reports saying so. There is still construction going on in Huntsville and Powassan that brings traffic back to two lanes; however, it is on the verge of completion.
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I think the Huntsville portion is the Vernon Narrows Bridge Rehab - a project unrelated to the highway twinning since it was already 4 lanes here for 20 years or so.
 
Timelapse video of a section of the newly widened 401 between Woodstock and Kitchener.

[video=youtube;FLW2XDuvTHM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLW2XDuvTHM&feature=plcp[/video]
 
And the newly reconstructed Highway 8 freeway into Kitchener
[video=youtube;s2Xmy6K5wUI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2Xmy6K5wUI&feature=plcp[/video]

(double post because the forum software would not let me put two videos into a single post)
 
gweed123 said:
Definitely a much needed piece of infrastructure.

IMO, if they're going to build a new crossing, they should build the new one somewhere around Amherstburg, to become the main trucking route. Most of the trucks are either headed south or west from Detroit anyway, so that allows a bypass. Keep the Ambassador Bridge for cars, have the new bridge for trucks. Not exclusively for one or the other mind you, but it would seem to make sense for trucks to avoid having to go through Downtown Detroit and Downtown Windsor if they don't have to.
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I think the owners of the Ambassador Bridge wanted this (DRIC) bridge project cancelled to keep truck traffic through their corridors. I can also understand gas bars (especially truck stops) and food places along Huron Church Road aligning with the Ambassador Bridge against the new crossing, even though it will make travel faster and more efficient for everyone.
 
swaugh3 said:
I think the owners of the Ambassador Bridge wanted this (DRIC) bridge project cancelled to keep truck traffic through their corridors. I can also understand gas bars (especially truck stops) and food places along Huron Church Road aligning with the Ambassador Bridge against the new crossing, even though it will make travel faster and more efficient for everyone.
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Yup, which begs the question why such a vital piece of infrastructure isn't in public (or at least semi-public) hands. The profit motive when it comes to infrastructure can really distort what would normally be seen as the best option.
 
And dear Lord how it is distorting opinion on both sides of the border! There is currently a proposal on the November ballot in Michigan to add more hoops to any attempts to build new road crossings. If it passes, Harper, McGuinty, and Rick Snyder should knock on the door of Canadian Pacific (the owners of the Detroit River railway tunnel) and offer funding for the proposed replacement in exchange for building two rail shuttle terminals in the areas of Dearborn and Belle River. They could bypass the bridge completely and the Ambassador Bridge owners couldn't do anything about it.
 
DHLawrence85 said:
And dear Lord how it is distorting opinion on both sides of the border! There is currently a proposal on the November ballot in Michigan to add more hoops to any attempts to build new road crossings. If it passes, Harper, McGuinty, and Rick Snyder should knock on the door of Canadian Pacific (the owners of the Detroit River railway tunnel) and offer funding for the proposed replacement in exchange for building two rail shuttle terminals in the areas of Dearborn and Belle River. They could bypass the bridge completely and the Ambassador Bridge owners couldn't do anything about it.
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Matty Maroun has money from "Americans for Prosperity" - which is really just two very wealthy Americans - the Koch Brothers fighting this and buying up Michigan and US legislators. Thankfully Rick Snyder, a Republican, has been pushing for the construction of the downriver crossing.
 
DHLawrence85 said:
And dear Lord how it is distorting opinion on both sides of the border! There is currently a proposal on the November ballot in Michigan to add more hoops to any attempts to build new road crossings. If it passes, Harper, McGuinty, and Rick Snyder should knock on the door of Canadian Pacific (the owners of the Detroit River railway tunnel) and offer funding for the proposed replacement in exchange for building two rail shuttle terminals in the areas of Dearborn and Belle River. They could bypass the bridge completely and the Ambassador Bridge owners couldn't do anything about it.
Click to expand...

this honestly scares me, and shows the corruption of big money in american politics. stuff like this seriously makes me think that the american system is broken.
 
Ambitious plan for Highway 403:

OChTO.jpg
 
With Option 2, why not simply call the upper deck a 407 extension, complete with tolls to pay for it ?
 
Well with prop 6 in Michigan defeated last night the new Can-US bridge can go ahead without a hitch. The Windsor-Essex Parkway (401 extension) is about half done construction now as well.
 
Haljackey said:
Well with prop 6 in Michigan defeated last night the new Can-US bridge can go ahead without a hitch. The Windsor-Essex Parkway (401 extension) is about half done construction now as well.
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Half done? When is it to be finished?
 
I use an Olympus Pen camera. Video is rather limited (2GB max file size which roughly equals 7 mins or real recording time) but the quality is good 720p video.
 
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