Highways in Canada

[catkat]

Originally Posted by Dwils01

There is a plan to make the QEW 8 lanes from Hamilton to St. Catharines.
The two additional lanes are suppose to be HOV.

Last time I heard anything was that it won't start until after they improve highway 403 through Hamilton.
They are currently working on the overpasses at Main Street and King Street right now.

How do you think work on those overpasses is progressing? IMO its going quite slowly...

[sonysnob]

Originally Posted by catkat

How do you think work on those overpasses is progressing? IMO its going quite slowly...

I think that the work is much more complicated then it appears. It appears that they are moving one of the support piers for the Main Street bridge while all of the lanes are in service.

Changing gears a little bit, this Ontario project doesn't garner a whole lot of attention, but it is pretty neat. This is Ontario's Highway 3, which is being four-laned between Windsor and Leamington.

Four laning between Hwy 401 and Essex By-pass:




Four laning of Essex By-pass:
2005:


2011:

[Symz]

I like the drive on highway 3, but people do tend to drive a bit nuts there, so it's good that it's being twinned. I heard the highway will be named after the former Bruce Crozier who recently passed away.

[Wharn]

I drove around Essex once, and it was unpleasant to say the least. Very glad to see that they are upgrading this to a VMP-esque dual carriageway. How long until the project's estimated date of completion?

Originally Posted by Mister F

Well Eves was a big part of the Harris administration so my point remains. As for the debt increase, almost all of that has been after the economy tanked when everybody has been taking on debt, or immediately after taking office when they had to deal with Eves' deficit. And a "massive" increase in taxation and spending is a pretty big overstatement.

Eves was as much a part of the Harris administration as Martin was part of the Chretien administration. But you'd never see anyone claiming the two governments were one and the same.

As far as your spending comment goes... are you kidding? McGuinty increased spending from $70-billion to $94-billion in the period from 2004 to 2008, which is about a 30% hike. I would not only call that "material", I would call it "substantial" (or even "outrageous"), and this increase took place during your so-called "good years". Now, there are two ways to finance an increase in spending without a corresponding increase in GDP: you can either raise taxes or fund it with debt. Since this is a provincial government, monetary manipulation is not an option.

Originally Posted by vid

With the HST, the sales tax on almost everything went from 5+8% to 13%. That's a HUGE increase. 5+8 < 13.

As much as I dislike McGuinty, my mother always told me to give credit where credit is due. The HST is actually a good idea since it takes the PST tax burden off of businesses. People only lash out at it because the hidden costs suddenly became plainly visible. But he's still a dickweed for not introducing it earlier.

[Dwils01]

Originally Posted by catkat

How do you think work on those overpasses is progressing? IMO its going quite slowly...

It's hard to say since the Main and King overpasses are a little more complex than a regular overpass.

I found the Aberdeen one moved quite quickly though.

When this first started the time frame was suppose to be end of 2012. But I think now it has been pushed back to late 2013 or early 2014.
So maybe it is progressing a little slower than usual.

[sonysnob]

^ Given the apparent complexity of the reconstruction of the King and Main Street bridges, I wonder if they are planning to eventually widen the 403 through Hamilton. It's a pretty busy highway.

I've noticed that they have restriped the westbound lanes with only two lanes through the Aberdeen Avenue interchange. At first I thought it was done just because of the construction, but I am beginning to wonder if it is permanent.

[Dwils01]

That was the plan I initially heard back in 2009. The 403 is suppose to be three lanes in both directions to just west of the Lincoln Alexander Parkway.
Which would also mean widening it on the escarpment an extra lane which could be a little tricky at spots.

Here's the spots that need to be widened to six lanes,
Main Street to Aberdeen Avenue currently four lanes.
Aberdeen Avenue to the Lincoln Alexander Parkway currently five lanes.
The total length is only six kilometres but it's a very complexed area and could take some time to do.

[sonysnob]

^ The Longwoods Road bridge would have to come down and be replaced as well. Given how much concrete it is comprised of, removing it would be no small feat.

[haljackey]

I am very surprised that Highway 403 is not 6 lanes through Hamilton. Traffic is heavy when you enter the city limits from the west, and gets very heavy when you reach Highway 6.

Also it's only 90km/h through some sections in the city. Widening, along with improvements to make it 100km/h are needed.

...Although I rarely drive through central Hamilton anymore. With the completion of the Red Hill Valley Parkway I take that and the Linc to bypass the 403 and QEW on my way to Niagara.

(If only London built the VMP like the Linc/RHVP...)

[waterloowarrior]

Originally Posted by haljackey

What else? (Wishlist)

With 407 being completed to 35/115 by 2020... four-laning or at least upgrading the Peterborough to Carleton Place Highway 7 corridor should be looked at as part of the long term plans. MTO is doing a study of the corridor right now http://www.peterborohwy7studies.ca/ Should be interesting to see what they find. AADT drops off significantly in the 150km between Havelock and Perth, but there could still be a case in terms of reduced travel distances/times, redundancy for the network, safety and other benefits like economic development, increased rural growth, and tourism.

[Mister F]

Originally Posted by Wharn

As far as your spending comment goes... are you kidding? McGuinty increased spending from $70-billion to $94-billion in the period from 2004 to 2008, which is about a 30% hike. I would not only call that "material", I would call it "substantial" (or even "outrageous"), and this increase took place during your so-called "good years". Now, there are two ways to finance an increase in spending without a corresponding increase in GDP: you can either raise taxes or fund it with debt. Since this is a provincial government, monetary manipulation is not an option.

Don't forget about inflation and population and GDP growth over those years. The tax increases that paid for the difference were hardly "massive" or "completely out of control". The government probably increased spending more than it should have, but let's not go crazy with the rhetoric.

[haljackey]

With such a warm winter here in Southwest Ontario, construction on the Windsor-Essex Parkway has been progressing quite well.

Some recent air photos:


Aerial image of the Windsor-Essex Parkway construction/Des images aériennes de la construction de l’Autoroute de WE by The Windsor-Essex Parkway, on Flickr


Aerial image of the Windsor-Essex Parkway construction/Des images aériennes de la construction de l’Autoroute de WE by The Windsor-Essex Parkway, on Flickr


Aerial image of the Windsor-Essex Parkway construction/Des images aériennes de la construction de l’Autoroute de WE by The Windsor-Essex Parkway, on Flickr


Diversion 1/Bethlehem Avenue -- 1re déviation/avenue Bethlehem by The Windsor-Essex Parkway, on Flickr

[catkat]

So jealous of all those concrete roads Windsor gets. And its even diamond grinded!

[Blitz]

^ We've had to deal with thousands of trucks a day polluting city streets for 60 years....so this is our reward I guess.

Is the Windsor-Essex Parkway eventually going to just be called Highway 401?? I'm still confused by this since nobody in the media seems to mention that this is just an extension of Hwy 401.

[Symz]

Originally Posted by catkat

So jealous of all those concrete roads Windsor gets. And its even diamond grinded!

The rest of the roads are like driving in Afghanistan.

[vegeta_skyline]

minus the occasional IED I hope

[Symz]

Originally Posted by vegeta_skyline

minus the occasional IED I hope

Some of those potholes will eat your car up and leave you thinking for a split second you were hit by an IED!

[Wharn]

Originally Posted by Mister F

Don't forget about inflation and population and GDP growth over those years. The tax increases that paid for the difference were hardly "massive" or "completely out of control". The government probably increased spending more than it should have, but let's not go crazy with the rhetoric.

Inflation was around 2% over those years. And I can hardly believe that GDP growth since 2003 has been anywhere near 20%, let alone 30%. Although you're probably right about it not being "out of control", because the government knows where the cuts need to be and they can predict the outcome reasonably well. As long as we have the ability to cut it is not out of control yet.

Originally Posted by Symz

Some of those potholes will eat your car up and leave you thinking for a split second you were hit by an IED!

The biggest pothole I have ever seen in Canada was on Adelaide Street in London. Took up half the lane and was at least 30cm deep (but it just looked like a puddle), I hit it doing 50 and it knocked my wheels out of alignment. And I drive a brick shithouse, I'd hate to think what would happen to someone with a finely-tuned car.

[jmt18325]

Originally Posted by Wharn

Inflation was around 2% over those years. And I can hardly believe that GDP growth since 2003 has been anywhere near 20%, let alone 30%.

Nominal GDP growth has probably been pretty much that.

[Blitz]

Symz, I used to think Windsor's roads were bad until I moved to London. Then I thought London's roads were bad until I moved to Winnipeg.