HOV lanes coming to QEW - The Star

[dvesh]

This is a welcome note.  The fact that they are workingon the QEW is welcomed news.

From TheStar.com

HOV lanes coming to QEW
 
Aug 14, 2007 11:03 AM
Curtis Rush
Staff Reporter

The Ontario government will create high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes along the Queen Elizabeth Way through Oakville and Burlington, Transportation Minister Donna Cansfield said today.

Cansfield said the HOV lanes will be introduced in both directions from Third Line to Burloak Drive when the QEW is widened from six lanes to eight lanes by 2011.

HOV lanes ease congestion and encourage carpooling by restricting access to buses and vehicles carrying more than one occupant.

More than 165,000 drivers use the QEW through Oakville and Burlington every day.

As part of the highway expansion, the QEW will also be widened to eight lanes between Trafalgar Road and Third Line.

Work will include repairing the existing Sixteen Mile Creek bridge and replacing the Fourth Line overpass.

The $88.7-million contract to widen the highway was awarded to Aecon Construction and Materials Ltd.

Short-term lane and ramp closures will be needed, the government said.

Ontario’s first freeway HOV lanes were opened on portions of Highways 403 and 404 in December 2005.

[g95pteg]

this is good news... but by the time it's built i will likely move to avoid this traffic congestion...

still a great idea... but i know i'll hate the traffic congestion it brings on for the four years that one construction worker does work...

maybe i'll completely avoid the highways...

[dschlag007]

HOV lanes coming to QEW

...both directions from Third Line to Burloak Drive when the QEW is widened from six lanes to eight lanes by 2011.

...the QEW will also be widened to eight lanes between Trafalgar Road and Third Line.

Really, this isn't that big of a change.  There's only about 6-8km I think between Trafalgar and Third Line.  Also about 4-6km between Third Line and Burloak.  So what they are doing is from 403 to QEW, you have a nice 4 lanes each side instead of 3...but shortly after Trafalgar, the people in the left lane now have to merge into the next lane before the HOV lane and vise versa.  The people who want the HOV lane need to move all the way over which may cause more breaking.  And then the HOV lane ends and it goes back to 3 lanes? after Burloak?  now you are getting 4 lanes into 3 and that's still a bit of a busy section of road.

If you're going to widen the QEW anyways, why not go all the way to where it meets back up with the 403 and around to the skyway.  Then you aren't getting people to merge into 3 lanes and causing a lot of braking.

[dvesh]

That's some solid points.

Only if there was an avenue where we (the drivers) could put our opinions where they would actually be heard.  Most the time it seems like decisions for road improvements are made that don't make any sense.

There are a lot of situations where you see lane merges and what not and you wonder why they were ever made that way.

[Go-tall.com]

This is a welcome note.  The fact that they are workingon the QEW is welcomed news.

From TheStar.com

HOV lanes coming to QEW
 
Aug 14, 2007 11:03 AM
Curtis Rushgreat day to you all
Staff Reporter

The Ontario government will create high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes along the Queen Elizabeth Way through Oakville and Burlington, Transportation Minister Donna Cansfield said today.

Cansfield said the HOV lanes will be introduced in both directions from Third Line to Burloak Drive when the QEW is widened from six lanes to eight lanes by 2011.

HOV lanes ease congestion and encourage carpooling by restricting access to buses and vehicles carrying more than one occupant.

More than 165,000 drivers use the QEW through Oakville and Burlington every day.

As part of the highway expansion, the QEW will also be widened to eight lanes between Trafalgar Road and Third Line.

Work will include repairing the existing Sixteen Mile Creek bridge and replacing the Fourth Line overpass.

The $88.7-million contract to widen the highway was awarded to Aecon Construction and Materials Ltd.

Short-term lane and ramp closures will be needed, the government said.

Ontario’s first freeway HOV lanes were opened on portions of Highways 403 and 404 in December 2005.