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[cbeach40]

I'd imagine the major constraint was the need to have a large inspection area on the US side. The area where the new crossing lands seems to be less populated than the Southfield area.

Exactly, on both sides it would be far more disruptive to residential developments, and require a lot more land acquisition on both sides. The Canadian side has already required over $500M worth of expropriations, routing it through LaSalle could have easily exceeded that (not mention the social issues that raises).

And, although they'd probably never admit it, building closer to the Ambassador Bridge makes it more likely that it will divert traffic from Maroun's bridge. Particularly with the 401 getting closer to the Ambassador with the new extension, if the new bridge landed at 75/Southfield a lot of traffic would use the Ambassador and brave the remaining lights on Huron Church Rd rather than potentially going 10+ miles out of their way.

Oh, there's no hesitation in admitting that the goal was to take traffic off of Huron Church Rd. As far as taking the traffic specifically away from Matty, I think that's just an added bonus.

But in terms of routing, that hits the nail squarely on the head. On the Canadian side the routing is able to serve both semi-local traffic via the EC Row, and traffic originating/destined in Windsor's south end and points beyond via the 401. A more southwesterly routing there would take that ECR traffic and keep it on Huron Church.
On the American side, a more southwesterly routing would attract the same trips heading to/from the south/west on I-75 and I-94, but traffic heading to the north or to I-96 would indeed be far more inclined to go to the north.

So in terms of southern traffic, yes, a different route would be shorter, but all of that traffic is still better served by this route than any other. But the traffic heading more northerly within Windsor and Metro Detroit, which is likely in far greater numbers, is far better served by this routing than that southern one.

[AsphaltPlanet]

A few new pictures of the Hwy 69 construction south of Sudbury:

[ghYHZ]

Nice shots......thanks for the up-date. I’ll be up that way next week doing a loop via the Tobermory Ferry. 

[AsphaltPlanet]

A couple of new pictures of some highways that have been widened during the past couple of years:

Hwy 3 in Southwestern Ontario was widened to four lanes between Windsor and Essex during a multi-year project that finished in 2012:


What it used to look like:


What it looks like today:


More:
http://www.asphaltplanet.ca/ON/hwy_3-9_images/Hwy3_images.htm


A section of Hwy 7 was also widened through Durham Region, east of Toronto.  The extension of Highway 407 is being built parallel to this road:
From this:


To this:


This is the future grade separation that will carry Hwy 7 overtop of the future 407 extension:


For more info on this portion of Hwy 7:
http://www.asphaltplanet.ca/ON/hwy_7_images/Hwy7_p2d_images.htm


All recent updates:
http://www.asphaltplanet.ca/recent_updates.htm

[AsphaltPlanet]

A new distance sign has been installed on Hwy 11 north of Barrie and it has generated some buzz:

http://barrie.ctvnews.ca/barrie-highway-sign-directs-travellers-a-long-way-north-1.1917324

http://onthighwayman.tumblr.com/image/91850634219

[webfil]

Well that's odd. It's ONLY 50 km (3,8%) longer to Thunder Bay via ON-11 rather than 17. 

Speaking of which, the new provincial budget has officialized some road investments for TB; ON-11/17 will be 4-laned northw... eeerr... I mean eastwa... eeeerrr southward to Nipigon. Work should begin next year. That's nearly 100 km of 4-laning.

[1995hoo]

Heh. I get a kick out of people from Ontario not knowing where Cochrane is. I remember back in 1989 I was trading patches at the Canadian Boy Scout jamboree on PEI and I traded for a patch saying "Medicine Hat District." After we made the deal, the kid told me it's in BC and I responded that it's actually in Alberta. He was sure I was wrong—after all, he was Canadian and I was American—until a nearby adult confirmed I was right, which left him really sheepish. It amuses me to no end whenever I'm more familiar with Canadian geography than Canadians are, and yes, I have indeed visited Cochrane, though it was a long time ago and I don't really feel much incentive to return.

[AsphaltPlanet]

A couple of new photos of the extension of Hwy 407 in Ontario, northeast of Toronto.


Full size:
http://www.asphaltplanet.ca/ON/hwy_407-409_images/407E/2014/07-Jul/407E_1_Jul14_24x16.jpg


Full size:
http://www.asphaltplanet.ca/ON/hwy_407-409_images/407E/2014/07-Jul/407E_2_Jul14_24x16.jpg

[AsphaltPlanet]

The 404 Ext's is almost finished:

[cl94]

The 404 Ext's is almost finished:

I never thought I'd see the Ontario Ministry of Transportation use concrete as the surface layer. Every time I go up to Ontario, the only concrete I ever encounter outside of 407 are small sections of 401 and 427.

[Dr Frankenstein]

Hmm, I don't know how often Ontario uses concrete pavement, but I recall the easternmost section of 417 being in concrete, and probably other sections as well.

[AsphaltPlanet]

There has been somewhat of a resurgence in the use of concrete in Ontario over the past decade.  A large section of the 417 was reconstructed in concrete about a decade ago, as have sections of both the 401 and 402.  One of the phases of the 410 extension was also built with a concrete riding surface.  The eastern extension of the 407 is supposed to be paved with asphalt however.

Here is the full set of 404 photos that I took yesterday:
http://www.asphaltplanet.ca/ON/hwy_404-406_images/Hwy404_RavenshoeExtn_images.htm#July14

[cl94]

Are bridges still being built with an asphalt driving surface, or have they also made the switch?

[AsphaltPlanet]

No, bridge decks are still almost always surfaced in asphalt.

[AsphaltPlanet]

Over-height dump truck strikes the overhead truss on the Burlington Skyway bridge causing it to be closed:

http://www.cp24.com/news/toronto-bound-lanes-of-qew-closed-at-burlington-skyway-after-truck-strikes-scaffolding-1.1941042

[rickmastfan67]

Over-height dump truck strikes the overhead truss on the Burlington Skyway bridge causing it to be closed:

http://www.cp24.com/news/toronto-bound-lanes-of-qew-closed-at-burlington-skyway-after-truck-strikes-scaffolding-1.1941042

Dang.  That's crazy.  I honestly think they should install a system in trucks that would prevent them from going more than 10mph if the truck bed is upright....

[cl94]

Over-height dump truck strikes the overhead truss on the Burlington Skyway bridge causing it to be closed:

http://www.cp24.com/news/toronto-bound-lanes-of-qew-closed-at-burlington-skyway-after-truck-strikes-scaffolding-1.1941042

Saw that on the news. It'll be a mess for quite some time. Means I'm not going to Toronto any time soon.

[AsphaltPlanet]

Amazingly, the skyway opened to traffic last evening.  They were able to complete a temporary repair the the damaged beam, and will complete a permanent repair during various upcoming overnight closures

http://globalnews.ca/news/1490028/toronto-bound-burlinton-skyway-bridge-may-reopen-later-today/

[AsphaltPlanet]

Here are a few of the future West Durham Link interchange with Highway 401 east of Toronto



From the road when they were installing some of the girders.  Traffic backed up pretty badly when they were doing this:


They are really moving the highway that far to the north:

[AsphaltPlanet]

Some new pictures of Hwy 7 between London and Stratford, ON.  A series of multi-year construction projects, that are not quit finished yet, have seen this road reconstructed with roundabouts installed at some of the busier intersections.











The full set:
http://asphaltplanet.ca/ON/hwy_7_images/Hwy7_p1b_images.htm

[cbeach40]

The Windsor Star posted a feature last week for the 15th anniversary of one of the deadliest crashes in the province's history.
http://blogs.windsorstar.com/news/photos-1999-highway-401-disaster

An 87-vehicle pile-up on a fog shrouded 401 at Manning Road, back on Labour Day weekend, 1999. In the end there were 8 fatalities as a result of that collision.

[Chris]

The 404 extension opens to traffic.

http://news.ontario.ca/mto/en/2014/09/highway-404-extension-set-to-open.html

[oscar]

The 404 extension opens to traffic.

http://news.ontario.ca/mto/en/2014/09/highway-404-extension-set-to-open.html

The news release doesn't say *when* it will open to traffic, or when all the politicians quoted in the release will get to attend the ribbon-cutting.  Hopefully by the time I swing by there in a few weeks.

[AsphaltPlanet]

It opened today at 3.

Just announced the Highway 404 Extension will open today at 3PM! #onpoli #hwy404 pic.twitter.com/TD9U6pQa6N

— Steven Del Duca (@StevenDelDuca) September 17, 2014

[cbeach40]

The 404 extension opens to traffic.

http://news.ontario.ca/mto/en/2014/09/highway-404-extension-set-to-open.html

The news release doesn't say *when* it will open to traffic, or when all the politicians quoted in the release will get to attend the ribbon-cutting.  Hopefully by the time I swing by there in a few weeks.

Usually don't bother with a ribbon-cutting and all of that. Coordinating a media event like that usually takes some doing, and it wouldn't look good for them to hold an event for an opening of a road and there's a last minute delay, or to have a perfectly good road sitting empty for a while just for the sake of a photo-op.

Easier to just have press releases ready to go alike above, do the photos and the speeches while construction's starting up. Like here:
http://www.am980.ca/2014/07/25/23468/