[innsertnamehere]

MTO doesn't have interest in the mid-penn. They prefer to continue widenings of the QEW until it's at 10-lanes, which will provide many decades of growth accomodation.

Ford did promise to widen the QEW to Niagara during the election.

The big, expensive highway projects hanging over MTO right now are the 400 widening from Newmarket to Barrie and the 401 widening between Cambridge and Milton. There is also a 401 widening in Durham, 403 widening in Oakville, and 403 widening between Burlington and Hamilton MTO wants funding for.

 

[Haljackey]

The QEW widening is pending the twinning of the Garden City Skyway, which begins next year if I am not mistaken. The QEW could also benefit with 6 lanes pushed to the 420 interchange.

For new builds, I think the Highway 7 freeway from Kitchener to Guelph is more needed than the Mid-penn. Maybe it will actually start after 50+ years of talk, studies, and bits of construction here and there.

Having the 401 shrink between Cambridge and Milton makes every driver and politician think widening of that stretch will come sometime very soon. Some work can progress like bridge replacements now but like the QEW widening, it's pending a major project before it can open- the Morriston Bypass (new route for Highway 6).

 

[lenaitch]

MTO doesn't have interest in the mid-penn. They prefer to continue widenings of the QEW until it's at 10-lanes, which will provide many decades of growth accomodation.

Ford did promise to widen the QEW to Niagara during the election.

The big, expensive highway projects hanging over MTO right now are the 400 widening from Newmarket to Barrie and the 401 widening between Cambridge and Milton. There is also a 401 widening in Durham, 403 widening in Oakville, and 403 widening between Burlington and Hamilton MTO wants funding for.

And the 400 between Parry Sound and Sudbury, funded out of petty cash?

 

[innsertnamehere]

MTO has the next two phases of the 400 extension starting in 2026/2027, a 12.2km extension of the 400 from the south and 20.4 km twinning of 69 from Hwy 529 southwards.

The QEW widening promised in the election campaign has an unspecified scope, I believe the language was "from Burlington to Niagara". The part of the QEW from Centennial Parkway in Stoney Creek to the 406 is fully built for 8 lanes and widening it to that would be very straightforward, I believe there is only a single structural modification required and a lot of that part of the highway is already paved for 8 lanes. Through St. Catharines would be tough with a lot of land requirements and it was just widened about 15 years ago anyway.. Not sure it's really going to happen. MTO does have long term plans to widen the Burlington Skyway, but I doubt those are coming any time soon. Personally I suspect that MTO will just extend the 8-lane part of the QEW to the 406 for now.

MTO is currently completing the EA for the 401 from Milton to Guelph - we will see if they follow through with funding. The delays to the Morriston Bypass make me think that MTO may do a massive design-build contract for the 401/Morriston Bypass from Cambridge to Milton, but there haven't been any official hints of that yet.

Officially MTO is supposed to start building the bridges over the Grand River for Highway 7 between Kitchener and Guelph this year.. I'm not sure they will follow through with that though.

A reminder of what MTO supposedly has the "green light" to proceed with construction:


Under Construction:
1. Highway 400 Widening Vaughan - Newmarket
2. St. Thomas Expressway upgrade
3. Highway 3 widening to Leamington
4. Highway 5/6 interchange in Waterdown
5. Highway 17 twinning Manitoba to Kenora
6. Highway 400 Widening

Construction of some sort identified in the 3-year highways program:

7. Bradford Bypass - west segment identified for start in 2026/2027
8. Highway 400 extension to Subury =- 32km of 68 remaining kms identified for start in 2026/2027
9. Highway 7 Kitchener - Guelph - Grand River Bridges identified for start in 2025
10. Highway 401 widening London to Tilbury - 20km from London westward identified for 2026
11. Garden City Skyway twinning - identified for start in 2026/2027

Projects "funded" without clear start dates:

11. 417 Extension to Renfrew
12. Morriston Bypass and 401 widening around the Bypass
13. 413 ("early works" have been identified as starting in 2025)
14. QEW widening "from Burlington to Niagara"
15. Highway 6 twinning to the Hamilton Airport
16. Highway 417 widening Ottawa

 

[nfitz]

MTO has the next two phases of the 400 extension starting in 2026/2027, a 12.2km extension of the 400 from the south and 20.4 km twinning of 69 from Hwy 529 southwards.

Excellent! When did Premier Harris promise this would be finished? I feel it wasn't a 30 to 40-year plan.

Officially MTO is supposed to start building the bridges over the Grand River for Highway 7 between Kitchener and Guelph this year.. I'm not sure they will follow through with that though.

I'm not sure the local Green MPP is pushing hard enough for it.

 

[innsertnamehere]

Excellent! When did Premier Harris promise this would be finished? I feel it wasn't a 30 to 40-year plan.

I'm not sure the local Green MPP is pushing hard enough for it.

The 400 extension has been held up for years by negotiations with the reserves it runs through for clearance. I don't exactly think the Province has been pursuing those negotiations with vigor either though..

 

[Woodbridge_Heights]

Maple Travel Plaza off of the 400 Southbound lanes, North of Teston Road. Now shutdown and being demolished, in its place will be a modernized Enroute.


View attachment 655592

I've always wondered what purpose the small camping area just south of the plaza (accessible through the plaza) was for.

 

[nfitz]

The 400 extension has been held up for years by negotiations with the reserves it runs through for clearance. I don't exactly think the Province has been pursuing those negotiations with vigor either though..

I bet you they could expedited that, by simply agreeing to the terms offered!

They certainly have been Crosswaying it.

 

[Woodbridge_Heights]

Kind of find it amusing how they have this and the King City ONroutes so close to the city. If you look at the ones on 401, they don’t start popping up again until when you’re well outside of the core GTA. To the west its the Cambridge ones parallel of each other and to the east its the Newcastle/Port Hope ONRoutes, and on both sides they are over an hour and 85+ km out from Toronto.

The same goes for the one in Barrie too, its a well sized city that already has a ton of amenities nearly every exit over there so is this location really necessary in comparison to areas that are more rural/remote and could benefit from having one?

Vaughan was virtually all farmland in the area surrounding 400/Rutherford up until the late 90's early 2000's

 

[Steve X]

I bet you they could expedited that, by simply agreeing to the terms offered!

They certainly have been Crosswaying it.

If they finish the 400 extension, they'll have to work on the next Northern Ontario project. Back in 2010, they say 4 lane Highway 17 through Sudbury was beyond 2017. Whatever year that means. It's beyond 2037 now?

Ford has pushed for some GTA projects. The widening to Milton would still be in procurement stages if it was for the McWynnety Liberals. It took a whole decade to extend Highway 410 from Bovaird to Highway 10.

 

[TransportEnthusiast]

Do you guys think once 413 is completed, the government would buy the 407 from the 401 interchange to QEW, rename it to 413, and then rename the 403 through Mississauga as 410? Always seemed logical to me 403 should start at the Burlington exchange.

 

[afransen]

Do you guys think once 413 is completed, the government would buy the 407 from the 401 interchange to QEW, rename it to 413, and then rename the 403 through Mississauga as 410? Always seemed logical to me 403 should start at the Burlington exchange.View attachment 661204

I don't think 407 would part with it cheaply. It is part of the value proposition for the highway. Who cares what they number the highways--irrelevant.

 

[TransportEnthusiast]

I don't think 407 would part with it cheaply. It is part of the value proposition for the highway. Who cares what they number the highways--irrelevant.

It could be worth the cost considering how much traffic could be alleviated taking highways off the QEW through Burlington/QEW.

 

[nfitz]

Do you guys think once 413 is completed, the government would buy the 407 from the 401 interchange to QEW, rename it to 413, and then rename the 403 through Mississauga as 410? Always seemed logical to me 403 should start at the Burlington exchange.

There's literally Ministry of Transport and Communications (MTC) documentsfrom last century that do exactly that. Before they decided to keep the continuity of tolling. And that's when they made 403 and QEW share names from Oakville to the 403/407/QEW interchange.

Also do we need the same highway called 403 and 410? That's because 403 was to have continued along Eastgate to the 401/427 interchange. I can't remember if 410 was to have stopped at 403, or gone to the QEW.

Anyhow, I don't think changing the number would reduce congestion or speed travel times.

 

[Haljackey]

If the western stretch of the 407 did come back into provincial control, yes the westernmost section could be renumbered 403. The stretch between the 401 and 403 could be renumbered 413, along with the existing 403 connection south to the QEW.

410 still makes some sense as a separate entity in my mind. 403 is mostly a E-W highway and 410 is mostly N-S.

Once the Highway 7 freeway from Kitchener to Guelph is done, it would then need to be extended to the 413, This could get it's own 400 series number. Since 407 is already taken what do we give it? 477?