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Unified Canadian Highway System

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cbeach40:

--- Quote from: Chrysler375Freeway on October 19, 2021, 03:17:55 PM ---So the only unified highway system in Canada is the TCH. Why does Canada not have unified Federal highway systems, such as Motorways/Autoroutes (like the American Interstate, French Autoroute, or British Motorway systems) and Federal Highways (like the U.S. highways)? Why is the TCH the only unified highway system? Why do they not have federal highway systems like the Interstate Highway System and U.S. Highway System?

--- End quote ---

Because Canada is very big and our population is proportionately small. And importantly, isolated into small pockets throughout the country, not evenly distributed. As such, the amount of interaction between these far-flung areas via road is minimal, so there isn't really any will to unify things.

The TCH was developed as a national unity type thing, but there's not much point to it other than "We have a Trans Canada Highway". Certainly not "We have a deliberate and patterned numbering system".

Henry:
Funny, I always thought that the Canadian highway system is basically their extension of the American one, given that many highways crossing the border retain their numbers (actually, BC 99 is switched over from I-5, which at one time was originally WA 99). With the population greatly concentrated on the southern half of the country, there really is no reason for expanding the highway system, at least until somehow a bunch of new cities and towns suddenly spring up further north. And apparently, Ottawa is not Washington, as to how the government is controlled either.

dmuzika:
Historically, the highway numbers in were more integrated than they are today largely due to the divergent numbering schemes as the respective provinces started building freeways. Highway 2 existed from Windsor to Halifax, passing through Toronto, Montreal, Quebec City, Fredericton, and Saint John. While remnants of the original routing remain, if it followed present-day freeways it would follow ON 401, A-20, A-85, TCH 2 (NB), TCH 104 (NS), and NS 102. At the same time, the original QC 17 extended from ON 17 to downtown Montreal. As upgrades occurred, the respective provinces did the following:

* Ontario and Nova Scotia kept their original numbering system in tact and added 3-di on their expressways - 400-series in Ontario and 100-series in Nova Scotia. Ontario initially numbered their 400-series sequentially (i.e. 400, 401, 402, etc.) before moving to adopting the route that it replaced (i.e. 416, 417); Nova Scotia follows the route it replaced. Maybe Hwy 401 should have been initially designated as Hwy 402.
* Quebec totally renumbered their highways in the 1960s to its present system. All 2-di highways that were not freeways became 3-di on a grid.
* New Brunswick moved designations to the upgraded routes, with bypassed sections becoming 3-di.

--- Quote from: Alps on October 19, 2021, 06:55:22 PM ---
--- Quote from: andrepoiy on October 19, 2021, 05:56:58 PM ---And the TCH isn't even really taken seriously in Ontario in Quebec. They're just tacked onto existing provincial freeways and they are NOT posted at junctions (in Ontario at least).

I'd say that the reason we don't have US Routes or Interstate equivalents is simply because of geography.

Canada's population is heavily concentrated on the southern border so the population is more wide than tall. Also, population is concentrated instead  of being relatively spread out across the country. Thus, it's not really that beneficial to have a national system and provincial systems do just fine.

There's only one major road that crosses the Ontario-Manitoba border, so that just tells you how unevenly distributed the population is.


--- End quote ---
They're not taken seriously in ON and QC but they are much more outside there.

--- End quote ---

With exception of the Ottawa area, the Trans-Canada Highway passes through Ontario's hinterland, so it's no surprise. If a branch of the TCH followed the ON 2/ON 401 corridor, it might have been taking more seriously. Land area aside, the reality is that over half of Canada's population lives in the Windsor-Quebec City Corridor and over 60% are in Quebec and Ontario - what's important to them is what ends up being important to Canada.

JayhawkCO:

--- Quote from: dmuzika on October 21, 2021, 01:45:00 PM ---Historically, the highway numbers in were more integrated than they are today largely due to the divergent numbering schemes as the respective provinces started building freeways. Highway 2 existed from Windsor to Halifax, passing through Toronto, Montreal, Quebec City, Fredericton, and Saint John. While remnants of the original routing remain, if it followed present-day freeways it would follow ON 401, A-20, A-85, TCH 2 (NB), TCH 104 (NS), and NS 102.

--- End quote ---

So in NB, did it also go down NB7 and NB1 if it passed through Saint John?

Chris

Rothman:
Heh.  When I was a kid, I did think it was weird when TCH 2 in NB wasn't the shortest route to Moncton from the west.  We drove whatever it was before they rerouted TCH 2 (I believe the old route was NB 10?  NB 12? Hm...maybe NB 112...ah, forget it).

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