Trans Canada Highway Twinning: Segments U/C

[ssiguy]

Funny thing is that Vancouver has the reputation of being so adverse to highways as to be ridiculous but in reality it applies to the whole province.

There is no area in the province that has a good highway network and as noted nearly every project is built to the minimum standard. They use the "mountains" excuse but that's are farce. The vast majority of BCers live in valleys which are no more difficult than anywhere else.

The Fraser Valley has incredibly lousy roads and yet it basically as flat as a pancake. The Island Highway goes thru mostly rolling hills and is nothing you wouldn't find anywhere else.

[Procrastinational]

Originally Posted by ssiguy

The Fraser Valley has incredibly lousy roads and yet it basically as flat as a pancake.

This one in particular bugs me. Highway 1 from Abbotsford to Hope is built to 1960's highway standards. Most of that stretch is also through farmland, meaning there shouldn't be any right-of-way issues.
I can't imagine that upgrading that stretch (even if it stays as 2 lanes per direction) could be more expensive than building entire highways from scratch as is happening in Alberta and Saskatchewan.

BC seems to be hellbent on only building to a 100 km/h standard these days. Maybe it's some conspiracy by ICBC to force people to drive more slowly. The province should bring in some people from the Ontario Ministry of Transportation to show us how to build a real freeway.

[swimmer_spe]

Originally Posted by Procrastinational

This one in particular bugs me. Highway 1 from Abbotsford to Hope is built to 1960's highway standards. Most of that stretch is also through farmland, meaning there shouldn't be any right-of-way issues.
I can't imagine that upgrading that stretch (even if it stays as 2 lanes per direction) could be more expensive than building entire highways from scratch as is happening in Alberta and Saskatchewan.

BC seems to be hellbent on only building to a 100 km/h standard these days. Maybe it's some conspiracy by ICBC to force people to drive more slowly. The province should bring in some people from the Ontario Ministry of Transportation to show us how to build a real freeway.

Yet, in Ontario, the highways have a maximum speed of 100 km/hr and British Columbia has a maximum speed of 120 km/hr

I am confused how a highway would have a higher speed if it was not safe for it.

[go_leafs_go02]

Originally Posted by Procrastinational

This one in particular bugs me. Highway 1 from Abbotsford to Hope is built to 1960's highway standards. Most of that stretch is also through farmland, meaning there shouldn't be any right-of-way issues.
I can't imagine that upgrading that stretch (even if it stays as 2 lanes per direction) could be more expensive than building entire highways from scratch as is happening in Alberta and Saskatchewan.

BC seems to be hellbent on only building to a 100 km/h standard these days. Maybe it's some conspiracy by ICBC to force people to drive more slowly. The province should bring in some people from the Ontario Ministry of Transportation to show us how to build a real freeway.

That's because Highway 1 from Langley to pretty much Hope is the same as it was 50 years ago. A few climbing lanes and a few interchange reconstruction have taken place, but essentially the remainder of the highway looks the exact same.

100 km/h design speed is meant to incorporate a fully loaded truck. So if that truck can go 100 km/h, a small private vehicle can go much faster.

[Glacier]

Originally Posted by go_leafs_go02

That's because Highway 1 from Langley to pretty much Hope is the same as it was 50 years ago. A few climbing lanes and a few interchange reconstruction have taken place, but essentially the remainder of the highway looks the exact same.

100 km/h design speed is meant to incorporate a fully loaded truck. So if that truck can go 100 km/h, a small private vehicle can go much faster.

And yet, highway 1 from Langley to Hope built 60 years ago was better designed and built than the newly upgraded highway 1 from Hope to Alberta.

[Procrastinational]

Originally Posted by swimmer_spe

Yet, in Ontario, the highways have a maximum speed of 100 km/hr and British Columbia has a maximum speed of 120 km/hr

I am confused how a highway would have a higher speed if it was not safe for it.

The speed limits in Ontario seem to be more political than anything else. All of the newly upgraded 400 series highways are built to a much higher standard than anything in BC. If I recall correctly, the 400 series highways are technically built to a 130 km/h standard, are they not?

The 120 zones in BC have a lot less traffic than most major routes in Ontario.

[swimmer_spe]

Originally Posted by Procrastinational

The speed limits in Ontario seem to be more political than anything else. All of the newly upgraded 400 series highways are built to a much higher standard than anything in BC. If I recall correctly, the 400 series highways are technically built to a 130 km/h standard, are they not?

So, BC politicians are being reckless by upping the speed limit when it is not designed for 120 km/hr?

[Procrastinational]

Originally Posted by swimmer_spe

So, BC politicians are being reckless by upping the speed limit when it is not designed for 120 km/hr?

I don't know about reckless... They are just reducing the margin of safety a bit. For most passenger vehicles in good conditions, 120 is fine. But that is by no means a safe speed when conditions are poor (and yet of course you always get people who insist on ripping along at 130 in the pouring rain at night). The 85th percentile speed was unchanged after the speed limit increase. People aren't driving faster, it's just the speed at which the majority drive at is now legal.

I remember reading somewhere that the Coquihalla was built to a 120 or 130 km/h design standard... Of the 1980's. New design standards have a much higher margin of safety.
120 on the 401 or 400 or 407 would be significantly safer than 120 on the Coquihalla (obviously that's without taking traffic into consideration).

[Glacier]

Originally Posted by swimmer_spe

So, BC politicians are being reckless by upping the speed limit when it is not designed for 120 km/hr?

The Coquihalla highway was designed for 120km/h, but it's not part of the Trans-Canada/Highway 1. No part of the BC portion of the Trans Canada has a speed above 100km/h (except I think they may have bumped up the 10 km section of properly divided highway east of Sicamous to 110km/h recently).

[mattpa]

They did 120 in bc on those major routes to eliminate left lane hoggers and before the speed increase the averge speed on those highways was 127kmph now its 126 so technically people did slow down i could careless if the speed limits where 140 as they are back home legally you can go 150 , but i wont because gas milage.

[Procrastinational]

Originally Posted by mattpa

They did 120 in bc on those major routes to eliminate left lane hoggers and before the speed increase the averge speed on those highways was 127kmph now its 126 so technically people did slow down i could careless if the speed limits where 140 as they are back home legally you can go 150 , but i wont because gas milage.

To have 140 km/h speed limits in Canada you'd have to improve the highway infrastructure significantly. Even more importantly we'd have to make huge changes to driver training and licensing (European countries seem to do this well). Police would also have to be instructed to crack down very heavily on dangerous driving, rather than speeding.

Way too many Canadians become incompetent buffoons as soon as they get behind the wheel of a car.

[swimmer_spe]

Originally Posted by Procrastinational

To have 140 km/h speed limits in Canada you'd have to improve the highway infrastructure significantly. Even more importantly we'd have to make huge changes to driver training and licensing (European countries seem to do this well). Police would also have to be instructed to crack down very heavily on dangerous driving, rather than speeding.

Way too many Canadians become incompetent buffoons as soon as they get behind the wheel of a car.

Simple solution - Mandatory written and road tests every 5 years. 90% is considered a pass.
Problem solved.

[mattpa]

honestly on the praires you could do 140 but theyd need to cut off farmers access and keep machinery off the highway its so bloody flat. Drove from edmonton back to winnipeg and i swear when i passed saskatoon i saw one car with its highbeams atleast 30min before we crossed paths.

[Procrastinational]

Originally Posted by swimmer_spe

Simple solution - Mandatory written and road tests every 5 years. 90% is considered a pass.
Problem solved.

I'd like to see that. Driving is a privilege not a right. It should be hard enough to acquire a license that a significant portion (maybe a quarter) of the population should be incapable of getting one. Those that can't drive safely can take the bus or train.

[swimmer_spe]

Originally Posted by Procrastinational

I'd like to see that. Driving is a privilege not a right. It should be hard enough to acquire a license that a significant portion (maybe a quarter) of the population should be incapable of getting one. Those that can't drive safely can take the bus or train.

It will never happen. We are too connected to the almighty automobile.

Mind you, within 10 years of this, most cities would have amazing transit.

[Procrastinational]

Originally Posted by swimmer_spe

It will never happen. We are too connected to the almighty automobile.

Mind you, within 10 years of this, most cities would have amazing transit.

I've always suspected that the difficulty and expense of acquiring a drivers license in most of Europe (not to mention crazy expensive operating costs) can explain why the transit is so much better than in North America.

Nothing stimulates the demand for transit like denying a large chunk of the population the right to drive

[mattpa]

the funny thing is they dont people who are afriad to drive dont have licenses, unlike here. My polish license costed me 200zl which comes out to 65 bucks, and you never have to renew it unlike the system here, so its not difficult just the difference between your road test is that they tell you where to drive but its your duty to pay attention to the streets because they wont tell you where to turn.

[Procrastinational]

Originally Posted by mattpa

the funny thing is they dont people who are afriad to drive dont have licenses, unlike here. My polish license costed me 200zl which comes out to 65 bucks, and you never have to renew it unlike the system here, so its not difficult just the difference between your road test is that they tell you where to drive but its your duty to pay attention to the streets because they wont tell you where to turn.

Maybe not so much in Poland, but I gather it's quite expensive in most Western European countries. And correct me if I'm wrong, but don't you have to wait until 18 to get a license in much of Europe?

[FrAnKs]

My last video is featuring ''La Transcanadienne'' between St-Jérôme and Montréal.

• Video Link

[mattpa]

Originally Posted by Procrastinational

Maybe not so much in Poland, but I gather it's quite expensive in most Western European countries. And correct me if I'm wrong, but don't you have to wait until 18 to get a license in much of Europe?

Its 16-18 in most countries but there are restrictions on the motor size of the vehicle and speeds and such. Most states renew every 10 to 15 years basically the eu has the same standards for testing across the board+- a few things