unimaginative2
Senior Member
Well the road's virtually brand new, and it's got a concrete surface. It'll start showing the cracks in a few years.
|
|
|
- Thread starter Mike in TO
- Start date
Admiral Beez
Superstar
Parts of it date back to the last Century, and AFAIK it still looks great throughout.
JasonParis
Moderator
"Concrete surface" are the operative words here.
Long Island Mike
Senior Member
Concrete roadways,toll roads and other observations...
Everyone: Interesting topic on concrete surfaced highways-I remember when the Long Island Expressway(I-495 formerly NYS 495) was constructed of concrete-in road expansions and repairs over the last 25 or so years the surface has been entirely paved over with asphalt. I remember an older NYS route in my area-Route 111 which runs from Islip to Smithtown was constructed primarily of 2-lane concrete road sections-especially for its southern sections near Islip-and was paved over with asphalt in the late 70s-early 80s period.
I have noticed in my travels that each state or province has its own "styles" of road design and construction-good examples are over/underpass bridge design-I notice NYSDOT's design in items such as guard rails and highway sign types as more examples. Ontario has its own also-the overhead sign gantries with the rounded bracings stand out in my mind as one example. One thing that I definitely noticed from my WNY trips is the damage on infrastructure from road salt-everything from corrosion on steel to road surface wear.
I recall similar wear and tear in Ontario from the harsh winter weather-here on LI since sand is primarily used as well as having less-harsh winters(last week we got 5" of snow-by far the most all year) road structures and surfaces tend to hold up better. The downside of sand is that it must be swept up from time to time otherwise it causes problems like clogging storm drains for example.
As for tolls-ONT 407 is a toll road with only electronic EZ-PASS toll collection or can occasional users pay cash to use it? Tolls to me are a double-edged sword-they can generate needed revenue to keep costs away from the taxpayer or become total nuisances-like coin tolls on NJ's Garden State Parkway or the Illinois Tollway around Chicago which to me are the worst type. My thoughts today here-LI MIKE
Everyone: Interesting topic on concrete surfaced highways-I remember when the Long Island Expressway(I-495 formerly NYS 495) was constructed of concrete-in road expansions and repairs over the last 25 or so years the surface has been entirely paved over with asphalt. I remember an older NYS route in my area-Route 111 which runs from Islip to Smithtown was constructed primarily of 2-lane concrete road sections-especially for its southern sections near Islip-and was paved over with asphalt in the late 70s-early 80s period.
I have noticed in my travels that each state or province has its own "styles" of road design and construction-good examples are over/underpass bridge design-I notice NYSDOT's design in items such as guard rails and highway sign types as more examples. Ontario has its own also-the overhead sign gantries with the rounded bracings stand out in my mind as one example. One thing that I definitely noticed from my WNY trips is the damage on infrastructure from road salt-everything from corrosion on steel to road surface wear.
I recall similar wear and tear in Ontario from the harsh winter weather-here on LI since sand is primarily used as well as having less-harsh winters(last week we got 5" of snow-by far the most all year) road structures and surfaces tend to hold up better. The downside of sand is that it must be swept up from time to time otherwise it causes problems like clogging storm drains for example.
As for tolls-ONT 407 is a toll road with only electronic EZ-PASS toll collection or can occasional users pay cash to use it? Tolls to me are a double-edged sword-they can generate needed revenue to keep costs away from the taxpayer or become total nuisances-like coin tolls on NJ's Garden State Parkway or the Illinois Tollway around Chicago which to me are the worst type. My thoughts today here-LI MIKE
unimaginative2
Senior Member
The 401 was originally concrete, but it was too complex and expensive to resurface the entire road that way, so they went with asphalt instead. I think the road has to be closed much longer for concrete construction.
afransen
Senior Member
Mike: it is electronic only. I think toll booths are to be avoided, personally.
I think infrequent users are identified by camera (and have a fair substantial fee), whereas frequent users use a transponder. A bill is sent to the address registered to the vehicle.
I think infrequent users are identified by camera (and have a fair substantial fee), whereas frequent users use a transponder. A bill is sent to the address registered to the vehicle.
Dan416
Senior Member
If you're talking about the rounded metal things holding the highway signs I'm thinking of, they don't use those on the newer signs, e.g. on the 401. You typically only see them on the QEW from what I remember.
M
Millstone
Guest
The ex-403 part is starting to get a little rough. But the concrete portions are well-maintained.