Ontario's Highways

[dvferyance]

https://news.ontario.ca/en/release/1007099/ontario-taking-next-steps-to-widen-highway-17-between-renfrew-and-arnprior

Good to see that Highway 417 will be extended westwards towards Renfrew!

Then on to the Sault!

Probably never to be honest...

Probably not. The Echo Bay bypass, the Sudbury southwest and southeast bypasses, and the stretch of freeway west of Sudbury past Whitefish to just before the traffic light at DenLou are the only major improvements I've seen in my lifetime on that stretch of Highway 17. Still one can dream.

It should probably be twined though even with at grade intersections

[Molandfreak]

Highway 17 is a treacherous stretch of nothing between Sault and Sudbury, and it's only going to get worse when the 400 is finished. Twinning would help the situation, but it can only go so far since the government refuses to bump speed limits up from 90 unless it's a full freeway.

[zzcarp]

Highway 17 is a treacherous stretch of nothing between Sault and Sudbury, and it's only going to get worse when the 400 is finished. Twinning would help the situation, but it can only go so far since the government refuses to bump speed limits up from 90 unless it's a full freeway.

Agreed. I drive the stretch between the Sault and Massey every year (plus trips from Espanola to Sudbury). The 90kph speed limit is tough, especially on the one twinned section just east of the Sault. I tend to drive those stretches at about 65mph in the rural areas (105 kph). The OPP doesn't seem to ticket within 20kph over the limit, and I see two types of drivers: ones that prefer to drive 50mph/80kph or less, and those who must be driving 75 or more since they leave me in the dust when they can pass. Twinning, even as an expressway, would make it safer plus provide a redundancy in case of accidents, construction, etc. There really is no parallel route for long stretches through there.

[JREwing78]

Highway 17 is a treacherous stretch of nothing between Sault and Sudbury, and it's only going to get worse when the 400 is finished. Twinning would help the situation, but it can only go so far since the government refuses to bump speed limits up from 90 unless it's a full freeway.

... Twinning, even as an expressway, would make it safer plus provide a redundancy in case of accidents, construction, etc. There really is no parallel route for long stretches through there.

Follow the Only Road!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9W1tWRMoiAI

[Stephane Dumas]

Someone else already mention it I think but the Bradford bypass is now numbered Hwy-425. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ontario_Highway_425

[andrepoiy]

Someone else already mention it I think but the Bradford bypass is now numbered Hwy-425. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ontario_Highway_425

I wonder where that came from, given that Highway 25 is nowhere near that corridor

[LilianaUwU]

Someone else already mention it I think but the Bradford bypass is now numbered Hwy-425. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ontario_Highway_425

I wonder where that came from, given that Highway 25 is nowhere near that corridor

They got inspiration from US 425 I bet.

[Great Lakes Roads]

https://news.ontario.ca/en/release/1007664/ontario-raising-speed-limits-on-most-provincial-highways

An additional 938 km of freeways will be raising the speed limit to 110 km/h!

[vdeane]

Nice to finally see 110 become pervasive on the freeways rather than the special exception, but why is it staged across three months?  That seems really specific for it to simply be a case of taking time to get all the signs installed.

Now if only Québec would get with the program...

[LilianaUwU]

Nice to finally see 110 become pervasive on the freeways rather than the special exception, but why is it staged across three months?  That seems really specific for it to simply be a case of taking time to get all the signs installed.

Now if only Québec would get with the program...

To be fair, the speed limit here is already de facto 110 km/h.

[cu2010]

I mean nobody follows the limits as posted anyways.

Of course, trucks will still be limited to 105...

[Molandfreak]

Still quite a disappointment to see the Sudbury bypass left out. As well as other fully-twinned expressways in Northern Ontario.

[LilianaUwU]

Still quite a disappointment to see the Sudbury bypass left out. As well as other fully-twinned expressways in Northern Ontario.

The Sudbury bypass isn't full freeway.

[Chris]

They say that Ontario's freeways were designed for 110 km/h, in fact they were designed for 70 mph and I assume they kept the same design standards after metrication and reduction to 100 km/h?

[vdeane]

I'm not a fan of "the de facto limit is X, so we don't need a limit increase".  It increases uncertainty for people not from the area and allows for the police to do pretext stops.

[LilianaUwU]

I'm not a fan of "the de facto limit is X, so we don't need a limit increase".  It increases uncertainty for people not from the area and allows for the police to do pretext stops.

Yeah, if it's raised to where it's tolerated, there's less room for tolerance but it's much clearer.

[Alps]

I'm not a fan of "the de facto limit is X, so we don't need a limit increase".  It increases uncertainty for people not from the area and allows for the police to do pretext stops.

Yeah, if it's raised to where it's tolerated, there's less room for tolerance but it's much clearer.

Unrelated, but in my town we had a 40 km/h road where people easily traveled double that all the time. When they stepped it up to 60 km/h to reflect the actual characteristics of the road, people dropped much closer to 60. Even without additional enforcement, a realistic limit is more acceptable to drivers.

[AsphaltPlanet]

Sky high view of Highway 410:


https://www.asphaltplanet.ca/ON/hwy_410-427_images/410_ar_DSC06882_42x28.jpg