Interesting 401 history. | GTAMotorcycle.com

Interesting 401 history.

interesting read

and you can see from just this segment of our Provincial Government
how from the late 70's on
they went from managing public roads and services
to the full on nanny state

and yes, the speed limits, same time the US went down to 55
but most states put it back up after the energy crisis
not Ontario, the government knows what's best for us
 
they went from managing public roads and services
to the full on nanny state

and yes, the speed limits, same time the US went down to 55
but most states put it back up after the energy crisis
not Ontario, the government knows what's best for us

Up until the 70s there were traffic circles on the QEW at the 420 in Niagara Falls and Centennial Parkway in Stoney Creek. They were adequate for the traffic volume at the time, and everyone knew or quickly figured out how to navigate them.

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Fast forward 40 years where the MTO is a bloated bureaucracy where the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing, and the two main requirements for a driver's license are a pulse and cash, they stick traffic circles in a town like Milton and the freakin' Gong Show commences. Half the people can't grasp the concept even with roadside signs + arrows painted on the road, and the other half assume they have the right of way due to their perceived self importance level.
 
It's not like I've ever been pulled over for doing 112.654 kph on the 401.
 
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Fast forward 40 years where the MTO is a bloated bureaucracy where the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing, and the two main requirements for a driver's license are a pulse and cash, they stick traffic circles in a town like Milton and the freakin' Gong Show commences. Half the people can't grasp the concept even with roadside signs + arrows painted on the road, and the other half assume they have the right of way due to their perceived self importance level.

LOL ... so true and sad. And they don't mind taking the cash in many forms, including speeding over their artificially low kept speeding highway/road limits to keep the unskilled licensed drivers alive from killing themselves or causing accidents.
 
By the way. They outsourced the licensing, so that it's now lean and understaffed. It's not the government's fault that people are stupid, is it?
 
By the way. They outsourced the licensing, so that it's now lean and understaffed. It's not the government's fault that people are stupid, is it?

It's still the government's responsibility to make sure contractors meet the (woefully inadequate) standards. Everyone's heard the stories (cough, cough, Brampton) of people with little to no grasp of the language being A,C,B,A,D coached through the system and out on to the road.
 
It's still the government's responsibility to make sure contractors meet the (woefully inadequate) standards. Everyone's heard the stories (cough, cough, Brampton) of people with little to no grasp of the language being A,C,B,A,D coached through the system and out on to the road.

Language? G1 test is available in 20 different languages. I have no idea how you can pass a licensing test when you can't read signs, but we live in the land of driving is a right not a privilege. Many of these use an entirely different alphabet. I know what mandarin and arabic look like to me, I can only imagine how confused I would be if all of the street signs looked like that.

"Arabic English Greek Kurmanji Russian Badini Finnish Hindi Polish Somali Chinese (Cantonese) French Italian Portuguese Spanish Croatian German Korean Punjabi Tamil"

EDIT: It gets even better, we can't get to autonomous vehicles soon enough. When was the last time you heard a talking sign to help you cope with your disability? At least make the test like an ikea manual with pictures. If you can't figure out what the pictures mean, you can't drive.

"People who have reading or writing challenges are encouraged to take an audio/verbal knowledge test."
"People who need an interpreter to complete a knowledge test must book an appointment for a verbal knowledge test."
 
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Meh, there were stories way back in the era of MPH when I got my license of people passing some coin across the table; those stories will always be with us, true or not.

Language is irrelevant. Signs are universal now, as my dad once stated in court when getting off for making a left turn, "there was nothing in English or French that said I couldn't make a turn there".
 
When the 401 went through they expropriated a lot of land from Quebec border to Windsor. In Milton the 401 took off the end of my Great Grandfathers farm. He complained but the settlement was very favorable and paid off the mortgage on the farm.

foot note, my uncle that inheirted the farm sold it to a small company called Magna international that dropped a 40 acre factory on the site. That paid better than the 401 sale, but right beside the 401 made the value pretty attractive.

Over the yrs many businesses died as a result of 400 series hyways , motels and restaurants, but it made a lot of landowners rich because of proximity.
 
When the 401 went through they expropriated a lot of land from Quebec border to Windsor. In Milton the 401 took off the end of my Great Grandfathers farm. He complained but the settlement was very favorable and paid off the mortgage on the farm.

foot note, my uncle that inheirted the farm sold it to a small company called Magna international that dropped a 40 acre factory on the site. That paid better than the 401 sale, but right beside the 401 made the value pretty attractive.

Over the yrs many businesses died as a result of 400 series hyways , motels and restaurants, but it made a lot of landowners rich because of proximity.

Nostalgia: Lakeshore Road east of Parklawn was a motel row because it was Hwy 2, the main drag. I don't think any motels remain as it's now condo row. Similar to Kingston Rd in Scarborough but some motels still remain there, probably due to not having a lakefront.
 
My Dad, (who was pretty old before he married and had kids) briefly drove a truck between London Ont and Montreal, using highway #2. It was a 2 day trip, each way. When he first drove from London to Kingston on the 401 it blew his mind, about 6hrs including lunch.

LOL, about the Milton roundabouts, when dad first started dating my mom and they came to the Milton area he'd never seen such horrible driving, 50yrs later its still the same
 
No, but with a 70mph speed limit you only earn a 0 point $50 ticket at 127km/h. Now you get a $120 3 point ticket.

Then people should say what they mean, and quit whining about things being taken away that weren't.

If they want a 130, 140, or 150 kph speed limit and not a 113 one, then they should say so.

Not that it would do much good when the speed controlled trucks are still passing at 80-90 going up hills.
 
Up until the 70s there were traffic circles on the QEW at the 420 in Niagara Falls and Centennial Parkway in Stoney Creek. They were adequate for the traffic volume at the time, and everyone knew or quickly figured out how to navigate them.

qew-246_lg.jpg


qew-245_lg.jpg


Fast forward 40 years where the MTO is a bloated bureaucracy where the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing, and the two main requirements for a driver's license are a pulse and cash, they stick traffic circles in a town like Milton and the freakin' Gong Show commences. Half the people can't grasp the concept even with roadside signs + arrows painted on the road, and the other half assume they have the right of way due to their perceived self importance level.
Lol well said
 
Then people should say what they mean, and quit whining about things being taken away that weren't.

If they want a 130, 140, or 150 kph speed limit and not a 113 one, then they should say so.

Not that it would do much good when the speed controlled trucks are still passing at 80-90 going up hills.

I'm confused, who was whining and what were they whining about? Furthermore, I would say it's a pretty safe assumption that everyone on a motorcycle forum wants higher speed limits. Most people on make-up forums probably want higher speed limits let alone a motorcycle forum.
 
I'm confused, who was whining and what were they whining about? Furthermore, I would say it's a pretty safe assumption that everyone on a motorcycle forum wants higher speed limits. Most people on make-up forums probably want higher speed limits let alone a motorcycle forum.

The coffee groupie (see above), and according to your sources, everyone on this forum.

First thing on my list would probably be to remove the limiters on trucks. Delta V is one of the causes of accidents, and having that much speed diffential . . .

We might also need an enforced minimum limit.
 
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The coffee groupie (see above), and according to your sources, everyone on this forum.

First thing on my list would probably be to remove the limiters on trucks. Delta V is one of the causes of accidents, and having that much speed diffential . . .

We might also need an enforced minimum limit.

Removing the truck speed limiters would be deadly. Unfortunately, the "new" Canadians who now over-populate the dump truck world, would have us all dead. Their already erratic driving, and lack of courtesy, is deadly enough. Add to that the fact most are paid per load, and you'll get a highway full of idiots, racing for loads of dirt. No thanks.

I agree with the minimum speed enforcement though.
 
anybody driving one of those tipping lorries paid by the load should have a 40mph limiter so they would only round a corner in thier own lane, at about 40 mph.
 
Remember drum brakes, steel dashes, single brake lines, rigid steering columns, bias ply tires

LOL...I have one of these! Except for the bias ply tires, the rest of my original 1962 Oldsmobile is just what you said...drum brakes, steel dash, single brake line, rigid steering column and all propelled by a big block 394 cu.in. V8.

Thanks for posting!
 

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