The 401

[sonysnob]

Has anybody been through the Wonderland Road interchange lately? It's supposed to open this month. I am curious how close they are to finishing it?

[Davis137]

There is an easier fix to a lot of traffic, at least in areas with fewer lanes. That is, the OPP and other interested parties need to really start handing out fines to "Left Lane Hogs". This is the primary source of road rage and excessive speeding on the 401 between Bowmanville and Kingston. Many drivers (of course not ALL) need to take off the blinders, and give a damn about the other vehicles around them. If other motorists want to go faster than you, move over and don't feel compelled to "police" their habits (whether good or bad) and do some form of self-imposed "traffic calming". Is it wrong to speed? Most times, yes...other times it's needed to safely pass slower moving vehicles quickly. I think that if fewer people cruised in the left lane and stopped taking 5km's to make a pass, there would be fewer bottlenecks, and they would actually not cause other drivers to do 140-160 to get around them (or pass on the right). Let me be clear, I'm not endorsing speeding...but I think that people that impede the flow of traffic need to be dealt with more frequently.

[haljackey]

Do you know if the 401 lane doubling in Mississauga will include a new structure over the Credit River, or just to the Credit River? It would decrease the timeline of the next phase to 407ETR if the bridge is built now.

Originally Posted by sonysnob

Has anybody been through the Wonderland Road interchange lately? It's supposed to open this month. I am curious how close they are to finishing it?

Some updates on the local London section: http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...167666&page=50

There is also a Facebook page by Aecon, the contractor, but it hasn't been updated since July 2014: https://www.facebook.com/Hwy-401-Won...6103/timeline/

[sonysnob]

The widening will start immediately east of the existing credit river bridge. You can see a PDF of the plans of the project here:

http://www.401expansion-mississauga....%2009%2002.pdf

[haljackey]

...So in other words, no. The project does not include a new bridge over the Credit River.

That sucks. It will delay construction of the next phase. And this phase goes to 2020? Without the bridge, what are they doing??? They don't need to rebuild Mavis like they did Hurontario so that seems like a long time-frame to get this project done.

Although I am happy to see something.

[manny_santos]

Originally Posted by Davis137

There is an easier fix to a lot of traffic, at least in areas with fewer lanes. That is, the OPP and other interested parties need to really start handing out fines to "Left Lane Hogs". This is the primary source of road rage and excessive speeding on the 401 between Bowmanville and Kingston. Many drivers (of course not ALL) need to take off the blinders, and give a damn about the other vehicles around them. If other motorists want to go faster than you, move over and don't feel compelled to "police" their habits (whether good or bad) and do some form of self-imposed "traffic calming". Is it wrong to speed? Most times, yes...other times it's needed to safely pass slower moving vehicles quickly. I think that if fewer people cruised in the left lane and stopped taking 5km's to make a pass, there would be fewer bottlenecks, and they would actually not cause other drivers to do 140-160 to get around them (or pass on the right). Let me be clear, I'm not endorsing speeding...but I think that people that impede the flow of traffic need to be dealt with more frequently.

I'm one of the left lane hogs you're probably talking about. The problem is, particularly between Cobourg and Belleville, there's only two lanes each way but a lot of truck traffic, and the trucks are unable to go over 105 km/h, often slowing down to 95 km/h going up hills. I do not wish to be stuck behind them so I pass them, but I refuse to drive faster than 115 km/h, particularly as most of the times I am driving along there is on long weekends when there is a higher police presence. I am already providing a speed to the drivers behind me that is 15 km/h over the speed limit. If I'm impeding you, that's your problem, not mine. As long as I'm over the speed limit and am going faster than whoever is to my right, that's too bad for whoever is behind me - leave yourself extra time if you're in a rush. It is not my problem if they choose to drive at 140, they are making a choice that they are not compelled to make.

This issue particularly pisses me off in the winter, when road conditions necessitate slowing down. It's not okay to drive at 120 when it's slippery and visibility is poor - you might as well be drunk.

[sonysnob]

That's such a stupid and arbitrary rule. "I refuse to go any more than 115 in any situation... " If you're already breaking the law why not just be safe and drive according to conditions? I'll let you in on a secret... A frustrated driver behind you is way more likely to do something aggressive and potentially dangerous to get by you than if they weren't frustrated.

When I drive a two lane highway, I watch my mirrors and adjust my speed accordingly. There's nothing that says you have to fly in the left lane all the time, but watch your mirrors and pay attention to what's behind you. There may be times when speeding up is appropriate.

[north 42]

Drive as slow as you want, but move to the right lane when others need to go faster. I hate when people block the left lane, and then pretend to be oblivious to the 20 cars stuck behind them! So very frustrating and very dangerous. If you're afraid to drive on a highway properly, then take another route.

[MolsonExport]

trucks on the left, trucks on the right, trucks in the middle, trucks in front, trucks behind, trucks, trucks, trucks.

I hate trucks (semis) on the 401.

[sonysnob]

Yeah, I really don't like the idea of setting an arbitrary speed and saying no matter what the circumstances you won't exceed it. That doesn't mean you have to drive 130 on the 401, but driving is a fluid and ever changing experience. I know personally, if I am going to Windsor on the 401 I'll typically set the cruise at 118km/h between London and Tilbury. If I am out passing a car in the left lane, or am about to, but see a vehicle approaching behind me from behind, I might ratchet up my cruise control speed a couple of kilometres per hour in order to minimize my conflict with the vehicle behind me and then slow back down once I have completed my pass. To me, that is what safe and courteous driving is all about.

[1overcosc]

The widening project from 4 lanes to 6 lanes across the Cataraqui River in Kingston (from Highway 15 to Montreal St) appears nearing completion; the additional westbound lane looks pretty much done. It wasn't supposed to be finished until 2017... are they closing an inner lane to rehabilitate it for the next two years or something?

[sonysnob]

^ That's a good question, I'm honestly not sure why it is finished now, and not in 2017 as it was originally proposed.

The only thing that I can think of is that the widening of the Catarqui River Bridge near Hwy 15 was deferred into a separate contract which will be called later.

[Innsertnamehere]

I seem to remember reading somewhere that MTO plans to issue the contract to widen it to Highway 15 soon, which would be the contract that widens the Catarqui bridge. Maybe they are just way ahead of schedule?

[sonysnob]

I suppose it is possible that when MTO tendered the contract, they did not envision that the contractor would build both the CN and new Montreal River bridges simultaneously. If the bridges had have been built as separate stages, work would have (obviously) taken much longer.

That's just a guess at one possibility though.

[Horus]

Originally Posted by sonysnob

Yeah, I really don't like the idea of setting an arbitrary speed and saying no matter what the circumstances you won't exceed it. That doesn't mean you have to drive 130 on the 401, but driving is a fluid and ever changing experience. I know personally, if I am going to Windsor on the 401 I'll typically set the cruise at 118km/h between London and Tilbury. If I am out passing a car in the left lane, or am about to, but see a vehicle approaching behind me from behind, I might ratchet up my cruise control speed a couple of kilometres per hour in order to minimize my conflict with the vehicle behind me and then slow back down once I have completed my pass. To me, that is what safe and courteous driving is all about.

Yes! All of this^^^

[sonysnob]

Highway 401 is currently being reconstructed through western Chatham-Kent. Some photos from an aborted trip to Kansas City from last week:

[Rosso Corsa]

Originally Posted by sonysnob

Highway 401 is currently being reconstructed through western Chatham-Kent. Some photos from an aborted trip to Kansas City from last week:

Concrete?

[sonysnob]

Concrete indeed.

[ScreamingViking]

Originally Posted by Rosso Corsa

Concrete?

The 401 west of Tilbury is concrete too.

Looks like they're not widening it beyond 2 lanes each way though?

[haljackey]

This construction is taking place right where the highway narrows from 6 to 4 lanes. Why not use this opportunity to not just reconstruct but widen the highway as well?

Seems like an awful lot of trouble to go through knowing that maybe 10-15 years from now the highway might be 6-laned through Chatham-Kent.


Drove through this during the weekend. Speed limit is 80, but there was line of traffic riding my behind doing 99. (Eventually got behind a slow truck anyway.)

Some of the sections are narrow... wide trucks are getting stuck: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windso...mber-1.3181228