[nfitz]

Automobiles should have governors in them to limit speeds. Trucks have them, limiting them to no more than 105 km/h.

The ones that were ruled unconstitutional? http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/winds...onstitutional-ontario-justice-rules-1.1197939

Personally, if everyone is doing 120-125 km/hr, it's nice to be able to do a 10-second burst of speed at 135 km/hr to pull away from a very erratic or drunk driver, who is beside you, and seems to be having problems holding a lane. One could slow and be behind them, but doesn't feel particularly safe, as they often then slow down when they can't see anything in their vision. No, this doesn't happen often ... maybe once every few thousand kilometres ... but it's useful on those occasions.

 

[Dan416]

So you want to do 200 km/h because your car can?

This is such a dumb response it's not worth responding to.

 

[Haljackey]

This is such a dumb response it's not worth responding to.

I respond with

(No speed limit sign)

400 north of Barrie could be like this as it has low volumes and good design standards. 416 could also be a good contender.

 

[gweed123]

400 north of Barrie could be like this as it has low volumes and good design standards. 416 could also be a good contender.

416 during the day, sure. But 416 at night? Hell no. The amount of deer and animals that cross the road is ridiculous. I can only imagine someone driving a Range Rover at 160 and hitting a deer, that thing would become a projectile.

I'd have no problem with the 416 being a variable speed limit road, with either 130 or unlimited during the day, and 120 at night, and 90 during snowstorms (as they tend to whip across that stretch of road quite severely. I've had drives in winter where the outer halves of the left and right lanes were ice, leaving only 1 navigable 'lane' straddling the centre lane marker).

 

[Haljackey]

Unrestricted speed limits will never happen here. I'd vouch for 130, but I'd be happy to take 120 or anything over 100.

 

[Dan416]

I'd be totally happy with 120.

 

[TOareaFan]

If the speed limit is 120, then enforcement should begin at 140. You need the space in the speed limit for people to pass efficiently. When traffic moves at 120, 130 is practical for passing.

Higher speeds mean lower road capacity since drivers must leave more room between themselves for braking. But since everyone already drives at around 120, it shouldn't be an issue.

couple of points/questions.....a page or so ago, i thought I read someone saying that higher speed limits would not push the speeding threshold up as people driving now at 120 are just expressing what the safe speed of the road is and recognizing what the enforced limit is (I am paraphrasing a few points I read) ...you seem to be saying the opposite....that a higher speed limit of 120 should allow people to drive at 140...do I have that right?

if, as I read earlier, the dangerous drivers (today) are not the people driving 120 but, rather, the people who insist on driving at the current limit when others are driving faster....does this not just do the same thing but at higher speeds? So would we not read in a few years that the dangerous people are the ones that insist on doing 120 when everyone else is doing 140?

Your capacity thing is interesting because you say higher speeds lead to capacity issues but an increase of the limit to 120 won't because that is the current speed......but if that new limit of 120 comes with an enforced limit of 140 then you do have a net increase in speeds so, I think, your capacity problem comes into play....no?

 

[innsertnamehere]

No the thing is that people won't do 140 on the highway as that is not the design speed and the drivers do not feel safe doing that speed for a consistent amount of time.

You will notice that today, people don't even really care about tickets. The 407's regular traffic speed is around 130, because that is the built speed. even if you were to increase the limit to 140, the speed of traffic would likely remain around 130 as most drivers don't feel comfortable doing more than that.

(just like how Highway 11's RIRO portion's speed limit is 90, but you only see people doing 105 as that is as much as is comfortable on that road)

people's average speed on highways isn't based on limits, it is based on how fast they feel they can comfortably drive.

a flat out 120 won't work, largely like a flat out 100 doesn't work currently. Limits should change as highways change. Roads like Highway 11 should be 100km/h (a 10km/h increase) while roads like the 407 should be 130. (30km/h increase) Roads like the DVP should be 100 or 110 km/h, not the current 90km/h. Smaller highways such as highway 12 and Highway 7 (past Peterborough) should be 90km/h or even 100km/h on the quieter, longer stretches with little exits and entrances.

 

[Dan416]

Agreed. The limits should make sense. Right now they don't. I think of Eglinton Ave in Mississauga which has a limit of 60, but it's a three lane in each direction road and it's very, very hard to less than 70 there.

Britannia goes from 80 to 70 to 60 to 50 within a few kilometers. The 50 zone is completely unnecessary since they eliminated the bottleneck. You could argue that there's houses on it, but there's also houses on Creditview, and the limit there is 60.

 

[ShonTron]

Agreed. The limits should make sense. Right now they don't. I think of Eglinton Ave in Mississauga which has a limit of 60, but it's a three lane in each direction road and it's very, very hard to less than 70 there.

Britannia goes from 80 to 70 to 60 to 50 within a few kilometers. The 50 zone is completely unnecessary since they eliminated the bottleneck. You could argue that there's houses on it, but there's also houses on Creditview, and the limit there is 60.

Airport Road in Malton is similarly ridiculous - six-lane, major truck route, but 50 km/h from Derry Road to Slough Street. I'm okay with speed limits as low as 30 km/h on residential side streets, but major arterials like Airport Road, I think 60km/h should be the minimum speed limit.

 

[TOareaFan]

Airport Road in Malton is similarly ridiculous - six-lane, major truck route, but 50 km/h from Derry Road to Slough Street. I'm okay with speed limits as low as 30 km/h on residential side streets, but major arterials like Airport Road, I think 60km/h should be the minimum speed limit.

Isn't there a school there? There was "back in the day".

 

[Mulder]

No the thing is that people won't do 140 on the highway as that is not the design speed and the drivers do not feel safe doing that speed for a consistent amount of time.

You will notice that today, people don't even really care about tickets. The 407's regular traffic speed is around 130, because that is the built speed. even if you were to increase the limit to 140, the speed of traffic would likely remain around 130 as most drivers don't feel comfortable doing more than that.

(just like how Highway 11's RIRO portion's speed limit is 90, but you only see people doing 105 as that is as much as is comfortable on that road)

people's average speed on highways isn't based on limits, it is based on how fast they feel they can comfortably drive.

a flat out 120 won't work, largely like a flat out 100 doesn't work currently. Limits should change as highways change. Roads like Highway 11 should be 100km/h (a 10km/h increase) while roads like the 407 should be 130. (30km/h increase) Roads like the DVP should be 100 or 110 km/h, not the current 90km/h. Smaller highways such as highway 12 and Highway 7 (past Peterborough) should be 90km/h or even 100km/h on the quieter, longer stretches with little exits and entrances.

Most of highway 11 has a design speed of 110, that being said, there are standards that are not met in many places, yet it is still characterized as 110 design speed.

The 2 job's I'm designing on highway 11 require guide rail based on my analysis of standards, design speed, encroachment length, clear zone, hazards, non-recoverable slopes, rock cuts, etc etc. Will my recommendations be accepted? doubt it, that costs money!

People's average speed (Operating Speed usually) is determined by the geological features of the road. I can build a road flat road in Sask with a design speed of 50km/h and people will go 120km/h on. Or I can build a widening road though the Canadian shield with a design speed of 130km/h that people will only ever go 90km/h on.

 

[Mulder]

In downtown Toronto, street lanes are narrower than in the suburbs. Drivers tend to go slower because of the narrow lanes. When lanes get wider, drivers go faster.

Want to get drivers to go slower, create narrower lanes. Want to get drivers to go faster, create wider lanes. In general, the 400-series of highways are wide.

This isn't just in affect in downtown narrow streets, but also though construction zones, even 400 series can be affected. People naturally slow down when there is an intrusion of the clear zone, bridges, barriers etc.

Driving though Ottawa to Kanata everyday with all the noise barriers, people are sometimes going as slow as 70/km/h.

 

[ShonTron]

Isn't there a school there? There was "back in the day".

Yes, there is, opposite Morning Star Drive. It was a public elementary school, now it's a temple with a private Sikh elementary school. It's fenced and set back far from the road.

It's farther north than I thought - to the private intersection north of Thamesgate, just before the CN overpass. Immediately north of there, it goes to 80 km/h - looks like a classic speed trap, especialy coming south, down the overpass and going immediately from 80 to 50. I wonder if it had anything to do with the old Rhodes Centre - thowing a curve in drivers' examinations.

 

[W. K. Lis]

Agreed. The limits should make sense. Right now they don't. I think of Eglinton Ave in Mississauga which has a limit of 60, but it's a three lane in each direction road and it's very, very hard to less than 70 there.

Britannia goes from 80 to 70 to 60 to 50 within a few kilometers. The 50 zone is completely unnecessary since they eliminated the bottleneck. You could argue that there's houses on it, but there's also houses on Creditview, and the limit there is 60.

Eglinton Avenue West, from Renforth to the Mississauga border, is 70 km/h. If drivers forget to read the signs, however, they crawl along at 60, or even in some cases, 50 km/h.