OT: 401 @ 9pm through TO

[Pumba's Truth]

Hey all.

Driving from Ottawa to Milton to London this evening. Have been burnt by not taking the 407 the past couple of times when getting down there. But that has had me arriving in TO closer to 4 rather than the 8pm arrival expected tonight.

We're leaving Ottawa @ 4pm and should make it to TO around 9 actually. WOW my math was off a bit. Time to change title.

So those of you living down that way. Is it worth taking the side step in Pickering up to the 407 ETR or will the traffic be light enough to breeze through on the 401.

TIA

 

[stefanospops]

I always take the 407 over the 401 because you can never tell what traffic will be like. Since there are fewer cars driving it there are fewer cars to collide, so fewer accidents. I drive it for that reason alone.

The best suggestion though is to tune in to 680AM. They do traffic every 10 minutes: :01, :11, :21, :31, :41, :51. That way you can hear if there are any problems. Not sure at what point you can pick it up but hopefully by Newcastle (Hwy 115) it will tune. That should give you at least 10 minutes before you need to make a decision. Good luck!

 

[Pumba's Truth]

Thanks. I hadn't even thought of tuning in for the traffic. Great tip. I'll give that a shot.

BTW.. I noticed you're going on Disney Cruise. Have a blast.. DW and I did the Land & Sea pkg for our Dismoon almost 3 years ago. It was funny cause folks questioned why a childless couple would take a Disney cruise. It was great.

 

[jasmom]

Hi
Last week there was a lot of constuction between Trenton and Belleville. We were on our way home to Kingston thankfully as the other side (going to Toronto)was backed up for miles. That would have been in the evening around 7.

 

[My 2 princesses]

Don't get me started on the 401 Fridays are the worst. Hate it. A 45 minute drive takes me 2 hours sometimes.

To answer your question, since you are expected to be here around 9, you should be okay. Last night I was coming back from the Jonas Bros concert and from TO to Milton took me way over an hour due to construction. I think they start later though, so you should be fine.

Good luck and drive safely.

 

[stefanospops]

I'm curious how you made out Pumba. Was the traffic bad?

We're going on our first Disney Cruise. First we have a week at BLT then a 7 day Eastern cruise then a day at Animal Kingdom Lodge before heading back home. We can't wait!

 

[Pinkgurlshubby]

Hey all.

Driving from Ottawa to Milton to London this evening. Have been burnt by not taking the 407 the past couple of times when getting down there. But that has had me arriving in TO closer to 4 rather than the 8pm arrival expected tonight.

We're leaving Ottawa @ 4pm and should make it to TO around 9 actually. WOW my math was off a bit. Time to change title.

So those of you living down that way. Is it worth taking the side step in Pickering up to the 407 ETR or will the traffic be light enough to breeze through on the 401.

TIA

If it wasn't for the fact the we live near Kitchener and I work at Pearson Airport in Mississauga I'd avoid the 401 at all costs. Travelling westbound, everywhere the collectors and express meet up you will find some sort of bottleneck or traffic jam. I finish work at 3pm and Friday and I never did over 60 kilometers an hour until past Guelph.
I totally agree with My 2 Princesses said. My drive should be a little under an hour but most days it's an hour and a half, sometimes 2...

 

[Ken_Breadbox]

If the extortionist tolls are not a concern, the 407 is almost always a better option than the 401. 9 o'clock SHOULD be safe, but these days in T.O., rush hour can run 24/7.

 

[Josh Hendy]

I haven't been on 401 in the Toronto area for many years, but in eastern Ontario it is TERRIBLE. Don't get me started ... oops too late!

When we drive from New York State back into Ontario after driving for a few days in the US, it's like entering a third-world country. I'm talking old pavement, cracks, potholes, gravel shoulders, steep hills, and sharp curves that probably wouldn't get a passing grade in many parts of latin America. My Dad told me something from back in the day - it seems that the Ontario government took so long to build the 401, by the time it was finally complete around 1968 they had just finished a highway that was designed to the standards of the 1930s to 1950s. That's why the rights-of-way are so narrow, the curves and grades are substandard and the medians are so narrow (dangerously narrow - you have no idea how many people have been killed on that highway because of vehicles sailing right through the median into the oncoming traffic). For many years there was actually a LEVEL railroad crossing on the 401, down near Oshawa IIRC Not too bush league or anything eh? I think they finally got rid of it in the early 1980s.

And the big green signs are crummy ... and getting worse. You might not notice it in the daytime, but look closely. At night some of the signs are completely unreadable. Instead of having proper signs manufactured with fresh green paint and proper reflective lettering, they are literally giving an old sign to a guy with a can of green spray paint so he can paint over the old letters, then they're sticking on some kind of peel-and-stick letters on top. Probably bought garage door letters from Canadian Tire.

And the service centers - I don't think they need official monopolies right on the highway selling gas and hamburgers. But if they have to have them you'd think they could figure out how to maintain them and upgrade the facilities without shutting down every single one of them for two years straight. I didn't follow the news on this at all so I apologize if the facts are wrong, but I heard from someone that the reason they shut down every damn service center simultaneously is that ONE guy owns all of the donut franchises on the whole highway, and he wanted them changed to drive thru, so dammit let's just shut 'em all down so he can get what he wants. Allegedly.

Luckily I don't drive too often on 401, once a month or so, and the 417 in Ottawa is bad enough. However, I'm pretty sure our problems out here don't hold a candle to the bad traffic, lousy (401) and expensive (407) roads you have to put up with in and around T.O., so you definitely have my sympathy.

 

[MikeJ]

I drove London-Kingston and back again yesterday and found traffic wasn't bad. It took us 4.5 hours to make the trip to Kingston (leaving west London just after 8) and only about 4.75 hours on the return trip (leaving Kingston just before 3). There was a little slowdown in the Bowmanville-Oshawa corridor but once we got the extra lanes around Whitby we never slowed down again.

I was expecting much worse given I was hitting Toronto around 5:30pm on Labour Day. I was able to pick up the traffic reports on AM680 when I got to Trenton and knew there weren't any major issues so I decided to stick with the 401.

- Mike