[Steve X]

I like the treatment that Hwy 11 got between the 400 and Orillia with barriers to prevent left turns coupled with the turn back overpasses, and think that could have worked here.

With the connection this has to the upgraded 6 though it provides a nice bypass to the 401 through Cambridge for a good portion of KW, although now that that section has been upgraded to 12 lanes this bypass is less necessary that it was.

You'll get all the farmers complaining they can't get their tractors across the road. That seems to be a problem of twinning existing highways without collector roads in farmland territory.

 

[Transportfan]

I like the treatment that Hwy 11 got between the 400 and Orillia with barriers to prevent left turns coupled with the turn back overpasses, and think that could have worked here.

But that's still a divided highway, so why not do full freeway?

 

[KevinT]

You'll get all the farmers complaining they can't get their tractors across the road. That seems to be a problem of twinning existing highways without collector roads in farmland territory.

Why not? The turn back overpasses would be existing roads like Shantz and Wellington 32, and they could use those to cross the roads. It's not like the new highway will be any more crossable for them than giving highway 7 the highway 11 treatment would have been.

But that's still a divided highway, so why not do full freeway?

The existing highway 11 was maintained though, including right-in, right-out access to established businesses. Doing that for highway 7 would be _way_ cheaper than a whole new greenfield freeway while eliminating traffic delays and accidents caused by intersections and crossover turns. The money saved could then be used to do the same for highway 6 between Morriston and Hamilton and probably a whole bunch of other similar places besides.

It's all too late now, and I certainly will enjoy the new full freeway once it's done. I just wish it had been done a little less grandiose and a whole lot cheaper.

 

[Steve X]

Why not? The turn back overpasses would be existing roads like Shantz and Wellington 32, and they could use those to cross the roads. It's not like the new highway will be any more crossable for them than giving highway 7 the highway 11 treatment would have been.

Perhaps you can ask these farmers complaining about the Highway 7/8 expansion 4-5 laning idea west of Kitchener:

County opposed to Highway 7/8 expansion plan

As it stands, the Highway 7/8 corridor from east of New Hamburg to west of Sebringville is not equipped, in the long run, to handle the region's increasing…

www.mitchelladvocate.com

The fact is no one is farming on the Canadian Shield so there's no tractors in cottage country.

 

[KevinT]

I still don't get your point. How would giving 7 the 11 treatment be any more objectionable to farmers than building an entirely new highway across their land? I would think they have more to lose with the new highway, particularly more land.

 

[tmlittle]

Waterloo region has a plan to combat sprawl, so that's not happening any time soon. Guelph will sprawl regardless of whether this freeway is built or not.
It's a connection. There is pretty much no redundancy along this corridor, and competitive GO improvements aren't coming any time soon. Also, not everyone lives in Downtown Kitchener. If we're going to be building any highway expansions, this is the one to do. I don't even care if it's tolled, the alternative is far worse.

Pretty much all the roads are clogged along this corridor unless a 35-minute detour via the 401 is ideal.

Forgive me for being cynical about a "plan to combat sprawl" when there's still acres of greenfield developments happening in places like Doon and North Waterloo, which are commuter oriented but far away from GO stations. I've spent most of my time far away from downtown and the isolation is real - even if a new freeway creates a connection, with no effective bus service between Kitchener and Guelph, it's a connection purely for car owners, and one that parallels a GO line. The amount of money something like this costs would be transformative for the GO corridor or for making something like Stage 2 LRT happen. It shouldn't be a priority.

 

[jamincan]

Provincial policy requires municipalities to have something like 30 year supply of land for development. I remember that a developer successfully challenged the City of Ottawa at the OMB awhile ago for not having enough developable land.

In any case, the regional policy is less about combating sprawl and more about protecting groundwater recharge areas and agricultural land. The public support for this is pretty robust and I don't think we'll see much shift on it.

 

[Steve X]

I still don't get your point. How would giving 7 the 11 treatment be any more objectionable to farmers than building an entirely new highway across their land? I would think they have more to lose with the new highway, particularly more land.

Cause they can't drive a tractor on a 100km/h freeway that used to be a road they can use. If they build a new one, they still get the old road to use. A 10 minute detour on a car becomes an hour long with a tractor.

 

[KevinT]

Ah, now I get you. People routinely do 100 to 105 on that road anyway though, so making it riro and bumping the limit from 80 to 90 wouldn't have changed it much. As I said, I'm actually going to enjoy that new highway, it just pains me to think of everything else that money could have done if they'd come up with a budget alternative to it.

 

[Steve X]

Ah, now I get you. People routinely do 100 to 105 on that road anyway though, so making it riro and bumping the limit from 80 to 90 wouldn't have changed it much. As I said, I'm actually going to enjoy that new highway, it just pains me to think of everything else that money could have done if they'd come up with a budget alternative to it.

It's like you can ride a bike on a 80 km/h highway but not on a freeway. Feel free to walk on the shoulders too.

 

[SaugeenJunction]

Highway 7 land purchase a ‘positive thing’ in moving planned expansion forward: Galloway​

 

[Haljackey]

Gosh this is taking so long with so many reviews and studies, it reminds me of a Rick Mercer Report on High Speed Rail.

 

[Bjays92]

This highway has been the works for over 30 years. Its absurd and if any highway in this damn province should be built it's this one.

That or actually commit to building HSR from london to toronto in the very least.

 

[nfitz]

This highway has been the works for over 30 years.

More like over 50 years.