Mid Peninsula Hiway vs improved rail
 

The rail thing would be great but more emplyers and companies would have to seriously consider building ot relocating next to the tracks.
Go Transit goes to union Station but then it is either TTC or walk.
That is why so many people drive. IE North York....
We need a more Europe like rail system at least for the Windsor-Quebec and Niagara to Toronto union station, Brockvill to Ottawa.
If the govenment was really serious it would invest in having VIA drop their rates to compete with air as the rail heads are closer to downtown than the airports (taxi). Maybe a WESTJet type competition on the rails worked against Air Canada. More rail cars built in Canada.
As for the Mid Pen hiway it is needed badly unless something else is down to reduce taffic on the QEW and 401. I used to drive over the 401 on the 407 (zing) and the traffic was backed up as far as the eye could see both ways.
Get a rail line alongside the 401 to the airport or Yorkdale and giant FREE parking lots at Guelph, Kitchener, Milton and Cambridge.
Something gotta be done and soon the gridlock is not good, last time i drove (yes alone) I was not alone as 90% of all cars are single passenger. The one time 3 of us had to go to the same place the HOV lanes were majic. was there lickity split Dixon road near airport.
So what do we do and how fast can we expect any action in these negative economic times.
P.S. I hate driving to or thru Toronto (not the city) but have to occasionally. I am not alone.

I don't see an immediate need for the Mid-Pen personally. Although adding 2 HOV lanes should be done from the 406 westward (there seems to be enough ROW for 8 lanes).

The 58 and 420 should be connected though, which would provide additional capacity between St. Catharines and Niagara Falls as there is NO room to widen further through St. Catharines or on the Skyway.

Building another highway seems to be an out dated solution for traffic problems. Also suburban development generally occurs around new highways and the GTA definitely doesn't need more of that.

The Niagara-GTA corridor study just released a Draft Area Transportation System Alternatives Report

Hamilton-Focused Inter-Regional Transit Service
Currently inter-regional service is focused on the Toronto area and particularly on Union Station. As such, the scheduling of these services is based on arrival and departure from Union Station during peak commuter times. The concept of a Hamilton-focused inter-regional transit service is based on Hamilton’s increasing stature as a significant employment area, which is anticipated to continue to increase over the coming decades. A transit service that is focused on Hamilton would therefore offer scheduling that would allow commuters to access the employment districts within Hamilton during peak periods.

New inter-regional rail transit links between Urban Growth Centres
This concept involves providing a western ‘web’ of rail passenger services which would provide coverage to the Kitchener-Waterloo, Guelph, Cambridge, Hamilton and Brantford areas. This concept could be combined with the Hamilton-focused interregional transit service described previously. The concept would provide for new passenger rail lines on existing rail corridors to link urban growth centres. Given that these are smaller growth centres and the potential ridership may not be significant, an opportunity exists to use smaller train systems or even self-propelled railcars, which can be individual or clustered. Rail stations would comprise multi-modal facilities to provide for a well-connected and integrated transportation system.

Connect radial GO services by providing high quality inter-suburb links between existing GO service lines.

Implement high speed rail with connections to the proposed Buffalo to NYC high speed rail

Bus Transit Service between Hamilton International Airport (HIA) and Niagara Tourist Destinations
Through consultation with the Hamilton International Airport, it is understood that a significant portion of tourists that arrive at the airport are destined to the Niagara tourist areas. While the airport offers limited shuttle services to Niagara, these services are not well utilized due to their limited frequency and availability. The airport has suggested that there is a latent demand for a dedicated bus transit service that provides services to Niagara Falls and other tourist areas.

That seems to be a reasonable plan. If additional highway capacity is required, I think widening the QEW (at least from Hamilton to the 406 - there is no room to widen any more through St. Catharines) makes more sense than a new corridor.

Right now, I would add 2 HOV lanes from Hamilton to the 406, and convert 2 of the lanes (1 in each direction) from Burlington to Hamilton into HOV lanes.

Would a commuter ferry across Hamilton Harbour be successful?

The preliminary report is still a bit highway happy for my liking.

Its also fuzzy on clarity of purpose.

How many people are already in cars, how many trucks are there now, how badly congested are given portions of the QEW or other routes, and how much growth do we want/can we expect?

I personally see this are 3 real issues around congestion/choke points etc.

The 3 corridors

1) Toronto-Hamilton (not directly mentioned, but obviously a huge part of Hamilton-area traffic problems)

2) Hamilton-Niagara, particularly in the St. Kitts/Niagara area on the QEW and 405

3) Hamilton area (or radial commuting and good movement withing the GHA (Greater Hamilton Area)

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On the first, I think the overwhelming answer remains GO Rail expansion. Clearly demand is high, congestion is high, and there is reason to believe there will be more commuting and growing population.

Answer: Improve GO rush hour rail service, make off-peak service 30min (or better), and extend GO Rail, full-day, 2-way service into Downtown Hamilton and Stoney Creek via the CN Tracks (hourly to Hunter St, Hourly to Stoney Creek)

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On Route/corridor 2; most of the corridor is not severely congested, however, congestion is increasing.

Again, I'd like to see rail take the lead.

But I don't think full-day service south of Stoney Creek makes sense.

I think the answer is greater VIA RAIL service (4-6 trips daily, with better pricing)

And rush hour, weekday go trains.

For weekend/holiday service, I think the GO excursion train has a place with an extended season (May 1st - Oct 31st)

When that's done, let's look back at road capacity and focus on choke-point relief rather new corridors or wholesale widening.

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As to Hamilton radial-service (Hamilton as GO HUB).

Think this makes sense, but is mostly addressed through the GO Lakeshore improvements and the Hamilton A&B lines.

The remaining connections should be rush-hour only rail connections to Brantford (terminating at Hunter Street)

And

Some form of VIA Service on a route btw, Hamilton And K-W (likely 1 rush-hour train, 1 mid-day train, and 1 evening train each way)

That could also be GO Service, though I lean to VIA as the better provider on that route (subject to pricing)

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What we don't need is to cut away anymore of the 'scarp; or encourage anymore sprawl.

Niagara highway idea revived by Tories

Last Updated: Monday, January 10, 2011 | 5:56 PM ET
The Canadian Press

The idea of building a new highway through the Niagara peninsula linking Fort Erie with the Hamilton airport is being revived by Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak, nine months before Ontario voters face a general election.

An alternate route to the Queen Elizabeth Way from Niagara to Hamilton has been talked about for decades. It was last championed by former Conservative premier Mike Harris but fell out of favour again when the Liberals were first elected in 2003.

Plans for a mid-peninsula highway were shelved again last summer by the Liberals after a Ministry of Transportation study said the four-lane expressway wouldn't be needed for at least another 20 years.

Hudak, who represents Niagara West-Glanbrook, said the Liberals made a mistake in putting off the proposed highway, which would take some traffic off the QEW through the Niagara-Hamilton region.

"I just strongly disagree with [Premier] Dalton McGuinty, who says he's going to put off this important project until 2030 and study it again," said Hudak. "I think that's wrong. We'd go forward."

The new highway would not only bring construction jobs, but would help attract more business to Ontario, creating more full-time employment, said Hudak.

"This will be the biggest investment in job creation, not only building the highway but attracting new businesses and jobs to Niagara, Hamilton and the western GTA, in generations," he said.

"We are a trading economy, and if we don't invest in our highway infrastructure, we're not going to attract the jobs we should in our province."

Transportation Minister Kathleen Wynne was unavailable for comment Monday, but the government said it was in the process of completing a transportation study for the Niagara to Toronto corridor, considering all modes of transport.

"We are not just planning to build a highway through sensitive lands," the Ministry of Transportation said in an email.

"The previous government launched into plans for building a mega-highway through some very important communities. That is not what we are doing. We want to get it right."

The New Democrats wondered where Hudak would find the money to build the new highway, which was estimated to be $1.3 billion when last costed out 10 years ago.

"The mid-peninsula corridor has been a mythical thing for years," said New Democrat Peter Kormos, who represents the Niagara-area riding of Welland.

"Nobody knows what the route would be, nobody knows who would be using it and nobody knows who would benefit."

The government's preferred options for transportation changes in the region were broken into three segments last summer, including a call for a new highway between Fort Erie and Highway 406 near Welland.

The study only supports adding two high-occupancy vehicle lanes to the QEW between St. Catharines and Burlington.

And it also calls for a new corridor study to connect Highway 403 to Highway 407 somewhere north of Ancaster and Waterdown before crossing the Niagara escarpment in Halton region.

There's no longer any need for a mid-peninsula highway and even former supporters of the idea have changed their minds, said Kormos.

"Hudak's a day late and a dollar short on this one," he said.

"The mid-peninsula corridor is no longer a flavour of the month in regional Niagara."

The government study group did not examine the idea of putting tolls on any new highways linking Niagara and the Greater Toronto Area, but hasn't ruled out charges for motorists.

"The Ontario government is committed to considering innovative ways to fund new infrastructure projects, including tolling," says the government's Niagara-GTA website page of frequently asked questions.


Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/sto...#ixzz1Ag8qYpT0

Gee, I wonder why he might suggest that. :haha:

A highway through farmland with no clear benefits other than to a couple of smaller urban centres (that are pretty stagnant in terms of growth)?

No thanks.

If you want to do some highway building, make the entire length of the 406 2-lanes each way to Welland.

The problem is that there is no room to expand the QEW through St. Catharines - it was very difficult to widen from the very congested 4 lanes to the merely adequate 6 lanes. Such requires the 406-MidPen corridor as a result. The eastern section (406 eastward) will be needed someday for sure. Finding a routing would be difficult though.

The 406 definitely should be widened to Welland (and maybe Port Colborne via 140, with a new bridge or tunnel built). That would also make an eastern extension easier to construct as no other tunnels would need to be widened.

West of the 406, I see little need in the foreseeable future for a new corridor (unless 3 were to be widened, and that would not really be a Mid-Peninsula corridor). The QEW could easily be widened to at least 8 lanes between Hamilton and the 406 (10 lanes if the service roads are converted to one-way operation), and HOV/HOT lanes could be built as a result.

Then why not expand the QEW to the 406, then expand the 406, re-route it to bypass downtown St. Catharines, and extend it to Mike Hudak's house from there (where I am sure he spends most of his time speaking in that creepy, condescending commercial voice)?

Something like this:
http://img695.imageshack.us/img695/152/image2993a.jpg
(base image ©Google Maps, satellite and cycling views)

Where the yellow represents a new highway. Extend the 406/QEW westbound after the new highway, and the 406/58 south of that, the rest of the QEW probably wouldn't need any improvements. All the highways in this area are cutting right through the city which isn't very beneficial to longer distance traffic.

The 406 is already being widened in Welland.

How is the QEW congested in St. Catharines? I've never seen this, and I've driven that stretch pretty regularly in rush hour when the Glendale bridge is up. But maybe my standards for what constitutes congestion are different.

What Niagara Region really needs is an integrated transit system, instead of the separate operations for each city that they currently have.

The AADT on that stretch is between 70,000 and 95,000. That is far beyond capacity for a 4-lane highway (capacity is about 50,000-60,000 before peak hour serious congestion takes place), and is a Level of Service of C to D on a 6-lane freeway (in other words, adequate for an urban area). It was quite difficult widening it just to 6 lanes, and there is no room for any further expansion.

West of the 406, plenty of room exists for expansion to 8 (or even 10) lanes and the more rural design improves the flow as well, even though the AADT there is between 85,000 and 105,000. I would personally add 2 HOV or HOT lanes between the Red Hill Valley Parkway and Highway 406.

Some of the larger centres in this province could only dream of looking at AADT standards to figure out if there's a problem. Maybe the numbers show it, but unless you get regular bumper-to-bumper traffic on a typical workday, that doesn't constitute congestion in my view.

The interchange of Glendale and the 406, however, is a real mess.

I've seen traffic backed up all the way from St. Catharines to Stoney Creek. It's a lot like the QEW on the other side of the skyway: your trip could take anywhere from 45 minutes to 3 hours.

This is already being done (since 2007), the QEW will be 6 lanes through St. Catharines. I believe all of the major construction work has been completed, expected completion is summer 2011. Sound barriers have already been constructed, two bridges (Lake St. & Martindale Rd.) have already been demo'd and rebuilt, the QEW over 12 Mile Creek has already been widened.

These works would IMO negate any need for a mid-peninsula highway.

I believe most weekends in the spring / summer, the backup on the QEW usually extends from around Jordan to the Skyway.

Are you implying people named "Mike" like to have direct service to their homes? The 406 is not at capacity and does not need alteration through St. Catharines, it runs quite smoothly 24-7 (it runs in a valley system, very much like a miniature DVP but without being a parking lot), certainly a by-pass is not required and could potentially hurt downtown.

The 406 routing looks strange through St. Catharines, but it`s because the Niagara Escarpment goes through there. Vid`s bypass goes directly into a very ecologically sensitive area known as the short hills.

Not quite. It looks weird because it's following the Twelve Mile Creek valley corridor (also was an old Welland Canal alignment). The 406 does not encounter the Niagara Escarpment until it goes past Glendale Avenue (Pen Centre Shopping Mall), where it starts to climb the escarpment.