Highway 401 in Ontario - busiest freeway in the world

[rickmastfan67]

Possibly the plane crash near the freeway a few years back?

Couldn't be.  You would have seen the airport in the shot then.

[PAHighways]

Possibly the plane crash near the freeway a few years back?

Every live shot that I remember showing the crash site also showed the 401 (referenced as the Trans-Canada Highway by one report) in the background with traffic.

[Stephane Dumas]

+1
but does Hwy 401 was once closed during the 1979 train derailement at Mississauga? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1979_Mississauga_train_derailment

[rickmastfan67]

+1
but does Hwy 401 was once closed during the 1979 train derailement at Mississauga? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1979_Mississauga_train_derailment

Can't be for that picture.  That's clearly a current SUV on the highway.

[haljackey]

Some more photos of the busy highway:

Interchange:


Collectors end:


"Narrow" section:


Winter drive:


Basketweave:


Image credits: Onthighways.com

[ctsignguy]

*sigh* boy do those pictures bring back memories...

back from 1998-2004, i was chasing a cute chinese pharmacist in Toronto, and got to experience all the fun of the 401, Don Valley, 404, QEW, etc...and let me tell you, the 401 was plenty busy at night too! 

We met some friends after an anime convention, and we didnt part until close to 2AM.....and the 401 was still jam-packed with traffic.....reminded me of I-95 in New England

[haljackey]

Yeah the thing is always busy.  Left the airport one time at like 4am and the thing was jammed even at its widest section.

I wish there was high speed rail instead so I don't have to drive to the airport anymore lol

[yacoded]

Haven't there always been plans to connect Union Station to Pearson through rail?  I think now they actually mean it, how can a "global city" have a crappy rail network.

[un1]

I don't think that Toronto has the money to do it, they spent the rest of it on the subway extension to Vaughn. However it would be a great addition, no matter what type of rail it is (however at this point it should probably be subway).

Ontario has a terrible transportation infrastructure, the only good thing is air, but that's only because airports are locally owned.

Also we are starting to veer of topic.. But since I made it worse, I guess it is acceptable for now. 

[Bickendan]

Ontario's freeway network is certainly interesting, but still, it's very hard to knock the 401's design.

[TheStranger]

Ontario's freeway network is certainly interesting, but still, it's very hard to knock the 401's design.

I wonder how much the 401's large configuration in Metro Toronto was a consequence of the cancellation of the Gardiner extension eastward...

[haljackey]

If you've looked at the 401 on Google Earth (or Maps) recently, you'll notice that the entire length of the route in the Toronto area has been completely redone, and has far greater clarity and resolution than before.  This also includes Google Streetview photos.

New view from Google Earth:


And Google Streetview:


Same spot in 1989 (20 years ago):


Its worth a look.  The recent improvements to the highway and new road construction is also visible.

[joseph1723]

^^^ Nice comparison of the 401 there haljackey, Did you get the 1989 photo off vintagekingshighways.com?. I often browse the photos there and have found them quite interesting especially since it shows Ontario's highways before most of them were reconstructed to modern standards.

[agentsteel53]

vintagekingshighways.com

wow, did not know Averill had a site!  excellent!!!!

[un1]

Look at the difference in traffic!
Also note the 410 construction since then.

[haljackey]

Did you get the 1989 photo off vintagekingshighways.com?

I think I did.  I have a ton of photos on my hard drive... can't remember where I got everything lol

Look at the difference in traffic!

Traffic and the title of this thread go hand-in-hand. 



Since you guys seemed to like the comparison here's another one from one of the "narrow" sections of the highway in Toronto.

2009:


Compare with 1989:


I don't consider myself to be a roadgeek or whatever when it comes to signage, but the old one looks wacky compared to the new one.

Also, here's a cool satellite image from Google Earth of the 401 overpassing a golf course.  Note the construction between the collector and express lanes:

[un1]

That's neat hal! Looks like the ramps has less of a sharp curve, signs have completely changed. (In fact the sign on the 1989 picture are almost completely gone now, and are replaced with the newer ones) Same with the last pic, you can see a increase of traffic, but something different this time, traffic density doesn't seem to change much. I'm guessing that the 1989 pic was taken during rushhour and the current one was during low density times.

Also you already showed that last picture. 

[joseph1723]

Here's another one:

2009:


1989 (from vintagekingshighways.com):


A lot has changed over 20 years, all of the old "truss" lights were removed from this section and replaced with highmast lighting, signs and median barriers have replaced with the redesigned ones and tallwall barriers respectively. It looks like the only thing that wasn't changed was the Dufferin Road sign bridge.

[Stojko]

Nice shots. I'd like to drive on the 401 one day, I'm planning to drive to Ontario next summer (or the summer after, depending)... looks like quite the drive in the GTA, not so much in the eastern part of the province though.

[joseph1723]

Thanks, here's another shot of the 401 taken at around 4:35 pm today showing all of the nice traffic   :



Just for a comparison here's one from the summer of 1989 at around the same position:

(from vintagekingshighways.com)

[KEK Inc.]

This is a rare sight:


IMG WIDTH=800.  NOT 1024.  PLEASE GET IT RIGHT! <- your friendly but incessant moderator

Full size:  http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/3581/evacuatedhighway401.jpg

Oh, that's a cool shot.  Is there a colored version?  I made it my new desktop background.

I did some quick googling and I think it was a result of a mass evacuation for a propane fire. 

http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20080810/to_explo_080810/20080810/?hub=TorontoNewHome

Now, the article has a picture of the isolated highway, but the pavement is wet. 

[haljackey]

Here's something interesting:

Red asphalt.


A lot of sections of the 401 were paved with reddish-coloured asphalt in the 80s/90s.  Only a few segments remain as they are resurfaced with standard black asphalt.

[mightyace]

^^^

Red asphalt has been fairly common around my hometown of Bloomsburg, PA due to the prevalence of red sandstone and shale in the region.

[un1]

Red asphalt is common here too because of all the rocks made of iron in the area, in fact until they rebuilt the highways around here the past few years it was all red (and old).

[Chris]

I've seen it occasionally in Europe as well, but certainly not something you'll encounter every day. That said, asphalt can be made in virtually any color. We have red bicycle lanes in the Netherlands.