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EnviroTO

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An Ontario Northland thread got a little off topic so I figured I would bring it here:

Suggested Improvements to Infrastructure:
  1. Complete Highway 400 to just past Cartier (Geneva Lake interchange) connecting Central Ontario into northern Ontario more quickly. Getting from Sudbury to past Cartier is the slowest part of the trip.
  2. Upgrade Sultan Road and Secondary Highway 667 to King's Highway standards opening a new faster cross-country route.
  3. Create a highway running over and replacing Secondary Highway 614, Secondary Highway 625, and Blueberry Rd (Longlac-Nakina) making it more direct than the roads currently there connecting Sault Ste Marie to Nakina and the future ring of fire road.
  4. Bring Secondary Highway 556 up to King's Highway standards.
Changing the route markers of highways to capture the value of the investment and to guide people on more direct routes:
  1. Kings Highway 75 Definition: A highway from Sault Ste Marie (International Bridge) to Nakina Ontario. Resign Highway 17 from Sault Ste Marie (International Bridge) to Wawa as King's Highway 75, have Wawa to the current intersection of Secondary 614 as Highway 17 & 75, sign the new highway to Nakina via Manitouwadge, Caramat, and Longlac as Highway 75.
  2. Kings Highway 14 Definition: A highway from Sault Ste Marie (International Bridge) to Sudbury Ontario. Resign Highway 17 from Sault Ste Marie (International Bridge) to Highway 400 as King's Highway 14.
  3. Kings Highway 101 Definition: A highway from the outskirts of Sault Ste Marie (Heyden Ontario) through Timmins to the Quebec border and Quebec Highway 388. Resign Secondary Highway 556 to Highway 101 from Heyden to Highway 129. Resign Highway 129 from that intersection (current secondary 556 and highway 129 intersection) to the current secondary 665 and highway 129 intersection as Highway 101. Resign from that intersection to the current 101 and 129 intersection as Highway 17 & 101. Resign from that intersection to the current 101 & 129 intersection just south of Chapleau to only Highway 101. Resign the highway signage on the section of 129 into Chapleau as Secondary 501.
  4. Kings Highway 17 Definition: The fastest direct route from the Manitoba border (Manitoba Highway 1) to Highway 417 near Ottawa. Resign Highway 102 as Highway 17 (keep Highway 11 on the current route through Thunder Bay but remove Highway 17 from that route). Reconfigure the intersection of highways in Wawa, and resign Highway 101 from Wawa to Highway 129 as Highway 17, sign the highway from there to what is currently the intersection of Highway 129 and Secondary 667 as Highway 17 & 101. Resign Secondary 667 and Sultans Road as Highway 17. Resign Highway 144 from Secondary 560 down to Cartier (Highway 400 Geneva Lake interchange) as Highway 17 & 144. Sign Highway 400 from Sudbury By-Pass to Cartier as Highway 400 & 17.
  5. Kings Highway 144 Definition: The connection from Highway 400 to Northeastern Ontario. Signage from the end of Highway 400 to Secondary 560 as Highway 17 & 144, continue to intersection of Highway 101, resign Highway 101 from Highway 144 to Secondary 655 as Highway 101 & 144. Upgrade Secondary 655 to Kings Highway standards and resign as Highway 144.

Priority 1 map:

Sudbury.png
 
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... Sudbury just really needs the NE leg of the bypass/ring road finished (this would connect Maley drive to where Highway 17 and the Southeast Bypass Meet.. its on the books) and all of 17 400-ized within city borders ... (and twinned to North Bay and La Soo) . At the same time ... 17 also should be 400-ized within North Bay city limits and figure out a way to have a 400-ized style link to the international bridge in La Soo. 11 should be 3 lanes from North Bay to Nipigon. Would do a lot for the Economy and safety too of Northern Ontario.
 
What's the source of this?
A fertile imagination.
... Sudbury just really needs the NE leg of the bypass/ring road finished (this would connect Maley drive to where Highway 17 and the Southeast Bypass Meet.. its on the books) and all of 17 400-ized within city borders ... (and twinned to North Bay and La Soo) . At the same time ... 17 also should be 400-ized within North Bay city limits and figure out a way to have a 400-ized style link to the international bridge in La Soo. 11 should be 3 lanes from North Bay to Nipigon. Would do a lot for the Economy and safety too of Northern Ontario.
I believe there are some (very) long range studies to further bypass North Bay but I know no details. They would have to link up Hwy 11 somehow.

Added lanes would likely improve safety but I'm not sure how it would help the economy. Folks really have to look at the traffic data to get a sense how low volume much of the northern routes are.
 
I stumbled on this page while I was looking for a news article of a new Highway 144 bypass that was going to be built around Dowling and Chelmsford around 2010 or so and I haven't heard much since around the time I moved to eastern Ontario in 2015. I used to live in the Dowling in the City of Greater Sudbury and this map of a new Highway 400 northeast corridor looks interesting! Here's one of the Sudbury area that I screenshot and added my own thoughts about the future 400 that may or may not exist! I don't like the idea of realigning Highway 17 towards Timmins so I'd leave it as is! Would also be great if Highway 17 is fourlaned west past Espanola and east to North Bay as it may become the future 417 from Ottawa.

On the map that I screenshot, note that I had drawn a green road (future 400) leading from Highway 400 (present Highway 69) south of Estaire, bypassing the south end of Sudbury up to the current Highway 17/HWY 144 interchange west of Lively that would end just past Geneva Lake north of Cartier towards Timmins. Leave the 30 km section of Highway 69 from the 400 to 17 as is or renumber it as 469. Build a new bypass at Conistion.

Some other options: Realign Sudbury Road 35 southeast of Onaping to include a new local road from Sudbury Road 35 between east of Windy Lake and Dowling to Highway 400 with new interchange and end at New Cobden Road southwest of Dowling to provide access to the communities of Dowling, Onaping and Levack, via Sudbury Rd. 35. Use the existing horseshoe alignment and rename it as A.Y. Jackson Drive named after the A.Y. Jackson Lookout at Onaping Falls nearby and either name the new local road from 35, the 400 interchange to New Cobden Rd. as a local road or Municipal road as say Sudbury Rd. 2.

I hope the ideas of new highways and roads including mine on the map aren't in the way of homes, residential areas, etc. but can always be built around them!

Question, I'm curious to know how the maps posted here were made! 🙂
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iirc the 144 bypass route planning was strictly for land buying purposes .. the province had no plans to actually carry through for a few decades. You see a similar situation in North Bay where they are slowly buying up the houses in the way of a rerouted highway 17 along the backside of the mall.
 
iirc the 144 bypass route planning was strictly for land buying purposes .. the province had no plans to actually carry through for a few decades. You see a similar situation in North Bay where they are slowly buying up the houses in the way of a rerouted highway 17 along the backside of the mall.
Seeing as that North Bay proposal dates back to the 1960s I would think the MTO has bought up what it needs by now The proposal makes little sense to me, except that the commercial/retail properties along the current alignment are maxed out. The area "behind the Northgate Mall" is only one area that, if logically extends northward, runs into residential and moves further away from the current swing to the west.. It hardly strikes me as a 'bypass' but just another arterial route - it would bypass nothing.
 
Seeing as that North Bay proposal dates back to the 1960s I would think the MTO has bought up what it needs by now The proposal makes little sense to me, except that the commercial/retail properties along the current alignment are maxed out. The area "behind the Northgate Mall" is only one area that, if logically extends northward, runs into residential and moves further away from the current swing to the west.. It hardly strikes me as a 'bypass' but just another arterial route - it would bypass nothing.

It was stated by the MTO in some article somewhere that they were around 90% of the required properties a couple years ago. It came up as a result of them demo'ing a house as it was cheaper to demo it then reno it... which kinda shows where Route 6 (the official name for it) is on the priority schedule. The Route would swing around and reconnect where the current alignment where the bend is .. and the entire route would be entirely freeway if ever done. There is even an article from 2008 that can be easily found where the MTO is quoted that it was "10-15 years" away from being required ....
 
It was stated by the MTO in some article somewhere that they were around 90% of the required properties a couple years ago. It came up as a result of them demo'ing a house as it was cheaper to demo it then reno it... which kinda shows where Route 6 (the official name for it) is on the priority schedule. The Route would swing around and reconnect where the current alignment where the bend is .. and the entire route would be entirely freeway if ever done. There is even an article from 2008 that can be easily found where the MTO is quoted that it was "10-15 years" away from being required ....
Thanks. It will be interesting to see what they come up with but I'm not sure I'll live long enough. I know the would like to grade separate the ONR crossing (for a couple of trains per day). A freeway-grade alignment for only part of the route through the city doesn't seem to be moving the yardsticks very much.
 
The 400 extension to Cartier is just a fantasy map. I know Sudbury well, and while Highway 144 has respectable traffic levels as far northwest as Onaping (because of the mines near Levack), traffic around Cartier is very light, and all the way to Highway 101.

There’s also no need for a Highway 400 bypassing the existing Highway 17 bypass, though Highway 17 could be twinned, at least between 69 and Sudbury Route 55.
 
The 400 extension to Cartier is just a fantasy map. I know Sudbury well, and while Highway 144 has respectable traffic levels as far northwest as Onaping (because of the mines near Levack), traffic around Cartier is very light, and all the way to Highway 101.

There’s also no need for a Highway 400 bypassing the existing Highway 17 bypass, though Highway 17 could be twinned, at least between 69 and Sudbury Route 55.
I'm quite surprised that both the s/e and s/w bypasses haven't been twinned by now. A lot of traffic on 144 south of Onaping strike me as local. If this was a Harris government, they would have downgraded it to the municipality.
 
Sudbury's primary focus is upgrades on the Lasalle Extension (that involves upgrading the Frood Rd intersection to a full roundabout). The city also has Maley Drive Phase 2 currently unfunded... that would involve upgrading Maley Drive (the original part) to 4 lanes + roundabouts. Somepoint afterwards .. as previously mentioned .. the NE part of the ring road will prolly become a priority. Or .. maybe the mythical Barrydowne Extension.
 

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