Trans Canada Highway Twinning: Segments U/C

[Airboy]

A causeway is probably the most cost effective route by three valley gap. There is a rail line on the other side of the lake.

[Dengler Avenue]

Originally Posted by Airboy

A causeway is probably the most cost effective route by three valley gap. There is a rail line on the other side of the lake.

Would the environmentalists in B.C. let that pass though?

[Airboy]

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

Would the environmentalists in B.C. let that pass though?

probably not. a tunnel would probably have the same back lash.

I remember the protests when Burnaby Lake was being recontoured. The fight to protect a non native turtle was quite something.

[milomilo]

Cost would likely be what stops it. The information I see has a max of less than 15,000 vehicles a day on that section of highway. Of the long list of road upgrades neccesary, is that section top of the list?

[Dengler Avenue]

Originally Posted by milomilo

Cost would likely be what stops it. The information I see has a max of less than 15,000 vehicles a day on that section of highway. Of the long list of road upgrades neccesary, is that section top of the list?

AADT = 15K? That’s a lot for a remote (not even rural) highway. For example, AADT on TCH near Renfrew (outskirts of Ottawa) is at 16.7K and we’re finally twinning and grade-separating the highway, at least in plans.

[milomilo]

But if there are tons of other sections of 2 lane TCH with the same traffic, but are easier to upgrade, the cost/benefit will be much better on those. You could probably twin 50km the road you mentioned for the cost of twinning that Three Valley Gap section.

[Dengler Avenue]

Originally Posted by milomilo

But if there are tons of other sections of 2 lane TCH with the same traffic, but are easier to upgrade, the cost/benefit will be much better on those. You could probably twin 50km the road you mentioned for the cost of twinning that Three Valley Gap section.

I see your point now. Lol I just wanna see the entire TCH 4-laned between Kamloops and Field anyway.

There are some problems with your argument though:
(1) The section between Craigallachie and Revelstoke is 48 km.
(2) Every section of TCH in B.C. is hard to deal with. In fact, KHC Phase 4 requires closing TCH and diverting traffic onto 95 and 93 for a good while.

[milomilo]

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

I see your point now. Lol I just wanna see the entire TCH 4-laned between Kamloops and Field anyway.

There are some problems with your argument though:
(1) The section between Craigallachie and Revelstoke is 48 km.
(2) Every section of TCH in B.C. is hard to deal with. In fact, KHC Phase 4 requires closing TCH and diverting traffic onto 95 and 93 for a good while.

Right, but there are certain sections in BC that are going to be much easier to upgrade than that small section by the lake. It makes much more sense to do those sections first before doing the harder sections.

[Dengler Avenue]

Originally Posted by milomilo

Right, but there are certain sections in BC that are going to be much easier to upgrade than that small section by the lake. It makes much more sense to do those sections first before doing the harder sections.

The only two that I could think of are the stretches through the farmland from west of Chase to NE of Salmon Arm*, then from east of Sicamous to Craigallachie (excluding the completed sections).

* A freeway bypass to the south of the town seems possible.

[nname]

Balmoral Road intersection upgrade

Not posted on the website, but there are 2 options proposed:

Option 1 (preferred): Convert the intersection to right-in, right-out, and left-in only. Left-out and through traffic will be redirected to nearby (single-lane) underpass.

Option 2: Add median barrier through the entire intersection and make in right-in, right-out only. All left turn and through traffic redirected to nearby underpass.

The long term plan is an interchange at this intersection.

[Dengler Avenue]

If I’m understanding you right, thru traffic and single lane those two words don’t go together, at least to my ears.

[Glacier]

Originally Posted by dmuzika

I was wondering if anyone knew the history of TCH 1 near Malakwa, BC (east of Sicamous)? There's an 8 km section of TCH 1 which is divided with a grass median and has parallel service roads, something rare for interior BC, near the settlement of Malakwa. IIRC this has been a while (mid-1990s base on old road maps) and seems like a curious location as it's not close to a significant population centre, as it's another 10 km of two lane highway before entering Sicamous.

Is there a back story behind this section? Was it part of a larger project that went unrealized?

Here in BC the government is short sighted. What they do is build the easiest and flattest section of highway first, not the most heavily congested. If you go elsewhere, say south to Washington State, they wills start 4-laning the highway from Spokane outwards (for example). Every decade or so they'll extend the freeway out another 10 or 20 miles.

But here in BC they don't extend the freeway out from Kamloops or Kelowna outwards. Nope, they find the easiest piece of land in the butt @#$@ nowhere, and build that. This actually puts the cost of future roads onto future governments who have to deal with exponentially increasing highway construction costs thanks to having to upgrade highways in expensive urban areas (high expropriation costs) and high blasting costs associated with rugged geography.

I think this section was built back in the 1980s as the government wanted to show that they were upgrading the TCH. Unfortunately, all upgrades since then have been inferior (no divided grass medians).

[Dengler Avenue]

Oh yea now that we’re bumping this thread, in Ontario, we’re planning to extend the 417 (TCH Ottawa Valley Route) out by another 22.5 km (to the town of Renfrew).

[Spocket]

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

Oh yea now that we’re bumping this thread, in Ontario, we’re planning to extend the 417 (TCH Ottawa Valley Route) out by another 22.5 km (to the town of Renfrew).

Isn't the goal to get it to Pembroke?

[Dengler Avenue]

Originally Posted by Spocket

Isn't the goal to get it to Pembroke?

Be right back trying to find free money for the extension to North Bay.

[craner]

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

I see your point now. Lol I just wanna see the entire TCH 4-laned between Kamloops and Field anyway.

There are some problems with your argument though:
(1) The section between Craigallachie and Revelstoke is 48 km.
(2) Every section of TCH in B.C. is hard to deal with. In fact, KHC Phase 4 requires closing TCH and diverting traffic onto 95 and 93 for a good while.

I hope if they end up doing this (closing the TCH) they upgrade the entire section that is by-passed by 95/93 ... but I'm not holding my breath.

[milomilo]

Almost seems like it would be easier to just put a tunnel through on a different route. But we don't do road tunnels here.

[ssiguy]

BC will do what is cheapest and probably to the minimum safety standard. It took 30 years to put in one overpass near the Alex Fraser Bridge to bring that road with 80,000 passengers a day up to freeway standard.

I don't know what it is with BC that successive governments, of all political stripes, seem to have an eversion to building proper roadways.

[Dengler Avenue]

militant environmentalism duh

[SFUVancouver]

I think that it's out of sight, out of mind for most BC politicians in Victoria. Hwy 1 on the Island is paved with gold, while on the mainland, in the mountains, less so.