Highway 401 in Ontario - busiest freeway in the world

[AsphaltPlanet]

So, I found my way down to Windsor, and all I can say is wow.  The Herb Gray Parkway is amazing.  Really impressive piece of infrastructure.

[SignGeek101]

So, I found my way down to Windsor, and all I can say is wow.  The Herb Gray Parkway is amazing.  Really impressive piece of infrastructure.

I can't get enough of that VMS Ontario now uses. It's so clear. Hopefully all the old ones will be replaced in the coming years.

[jakeroot]

So, I found my way down to Windsor, and all I can say is wow.  The Herb Gray Parkway is amazing.  Really impressive piece of infrastructure.

I can't get enough of that VMS Ontario now uses. It's so clear. Hopefully all the old ones will be replaced in the coming years.

Alberta also has very clear VMSs. Drive anywhere in Banff and you'll know what I'm talking about. Though I don't like Ontario's logo in the top right. I don't see how that's beneficial.

[SignGeek101]

So, I found my way down to Windsor, and all I can say is wow.  The Herb Gray Parkway is amazing.  Really impressive piece of infrastructure.

I can't get enough of that VMS Ontario now uses. It's so clear. Hopefully all the old ones will be replaced in the coming years.

Alberta also has very clear VMSs. Drive anywhere in Banff and you'll know what I'm talking about. Though I don't like Ontario's logo in the top right. I don't see how that's beneficial.

I'm heading there next month. I'll have a look. Thanks for pointing that out.

[jakeroot]

So, I found my way down to Windsor, and all I can say is wow.  The Herb Gray Parkway is amazing.  Really impressive piece of infrastructure.

I can't get enough of that VMS Ontario now uses. It's so clear. Hopefully all the old ones will be replaced in the coming years.

Alberta also has very clear VMSs. Drive anywhere in Banff and you'll know what I'm talking about. Though I don't like Ontario's logo in the top right. I don't see how that's beneficial.

I'm heading there next month. I'll have a look. Thanks for pointing that out.

Sure thing. Here's a photo I snapped of the last time I went through there:

[iBallasticwolf2]

So much better than the VMSs in Cincinnati.

[thenetwork]

So, I found my way down to Windsor, and all I can say is wow.  The Herb Gray Parkway is amazing.  Really impressive piece of infrastructure.

The HGP makes the EC Row look like an utter disaster.  But then again the ECR, if I recall, was not designed nor built by the MTO, but rather by the city of Windsor proper.  I wonder if there would be a major rehab of the EC Row in the near future as much of that freeway is over 30 years old?

[jakeroot]

So much better than the VMSs in Cincinnati.

Canada certainly seems to be on the up with their VMSs, though WSDOT does good VMSs as well:

(HOV Lane on left, hence separate speed limit)

[mrsman]

So much better than the VMSs in Cincinnati.

Canada certainly seems to be on the up with their VMSs, though WSDOT does good VMSs as well:

What does low pressure refer to?  Is it weather?

[jakeroot]

What does low pressure refer to?  Is it weather?

The cameras are housed in a high-pressure environment to keep water out. The "low pressure" message is a maintenance warning to DOT workers to take a look at it.

[AsphaltPlanet]

I didn't post this here when I plastered it elsewhere on the internet.  Apologies to those who have seen it (and those who don't care), but this is a video of the Herb Gray Parkway  through Windsor.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/x0Eh4q7aSHk"

[SignGeek101]

I didn't post this here when I plastered it elsewhere on the internet.  Apologies to those who have seen it (and those who don't care), but this is a video of the Herb Gray Parkway  through Windsor.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/x0Eh4q7aSHk"

Thanks for posting this. It's the only video footage (apart form the company video) that I've seen.

[MisterSG1]

I didn't post this here when I plastered it elsewhere on the internet.  Apologies to those who have seen it (and those who don't care), but this is a video of the Herb Gray Parkway  through Windsor.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/x0Eh4q7aSHk"

Why did you have to have a Tragically Hip song in your video? Sure, if you have to use a Canadian band in your video, you could have used The Tea Party since they are from Windsor. That's the beauty of SIRIUS radio, I don't have to hear that nonsense like the tragically hip which the government of Canada forces radio stations here to play.

[AsphaltPlanet]

I used the Hip because I like the Hip.  I assume most people just listen to their own music anyways.

[Henry]

So once the Gordie Howe Bridge is complete, one can drive from Detroit to Toronto (and Montreal/Quebec City) nonstop? That would be nice to do!

[lordsutch]

So once the Gordie Howe Bridge is complete, one can drive from Detroit to Toronto (and Montreal/Quebec City) nonstop? That would be nice to do!

Well, you can already do that via I-94 east to the Blue Water Bridge and ON 402.

[AsphaltPlanet]

You still won't be able to, because either way you'll have to drive through Toronto...

[Bickendan]

You still won't be able to, because either way you'll have to drive through Toronto...

uh... doesn't make sense. That's like saying you can't drive from Houston to LA because you have to drive through LA.

[AsphaltPlanet]

^ I was joking saying that you wouldn't be able to drive from Detroit to Montreal or Quebec City without stopping because you'd have to stop for traffic in Toronto (you'd have to stop for gas otherwise too).  It may not be very funny, but it certainly makes sense.

[Bickendan]

That Montreal bit was missing, because that makes more sense

[AsphaltPlanet]

i could see how that would be confusing.

[Duke87]

Presumably one can drive through Toronto nonstop if one does it at the right time.

More practically speaking, the trip cannot be nonstop because of the need to clear customs to get to Detroit.

[Dr Frankenstein]

I've driven through Toronto on the 401 without stopping (though I came fairly close to) on a Monday around noon.

Of course, customs may count as a stop too...

[cbeach40]

I've driven through Toronto on the 401 without stopping (though I came fairly close to) on a Monday around noon.

Of course, customs may count as a stop too...

Customs very much counts as a stop.

It's like those on these forums who lament the lack of a full freeway for Hwy 137... it's an uninterrupted flow facility and has no capacity issues in and of itself. The toll bridge and customs would gum up a conventional highway just as much as it would a freeway.

There's no capacity benefit to upgrading it. And in terms of safety, yes, removing the five entrances/sideroads would reduce the chances of a conflict from those points. But suddenly you'd have freeway with significant queuing... that's just begging for rear end collisions, and at higher speeds. Such a terrible plan.

[Stephane Dumas]

You still won't be able to, because either way you'll have to drive through Toronto...

Technically, if we left Hwy-401 at Mississauga to take Hwy-407 to reach the future Hwy-412 to return on Hwy-401 and vice-versa we don't pass within Toronto city limits.