Highway 7 - Kitchener to Guelph

[ijmorlan]

Sorry, what I meant was - there's a long section of that highway that is 4 lanes (2 each way), massive overpasses that could easily accommodate 4 lanes in each direction... I love it, don't get me wrong - but all I could think of is "man, I bet the folks who hate this new Hwy 7 to Guelph must absolutely hate this, too."

I’m not sure exactly which part you’re talking about, but I find it entirely believable that the best design for an overpass for a 4-lane road may well involve enough space for an 8-lane road to pass underneath, especially given the future flexibility obtained by having the extra space. Once an overpass is needed, it seems pretty obvious that building a bit of extra length isn’t going to cost much more. Whereas if the overpass can be saved entirely, that actually would make a big difference in cost.

As to the part that is not a full highway but is at 4 lanes, that makes sense too. It doesn’t really make sense for a freeway to suddenly turn into a 2-lane road, except possibly at a junction that splits the traffic up multiple ways.

I actually do agree with some highway construction. For example, I believe the Hanlon expressway should be connected to the Highway 6 south of Morriston. This would eliminate a bottleneck and allow all the roads that have been already built to be used to their full capacity. I believe this project is in the works.

My problem with the highway to Guelph is that we’re building an entirely new expressway instead of trying a combination of road widening and transit expansion.