Many years ago, in an attempt to provide a much-needed freeway bypass of the congested Toronto area, visionary planners and engineers constructed Highway 401 along the northern edge of the developed area. When initially constructed, Highway 401 was primarily considered a bypass routing for through travellers and was intended to only provide a limited function for intra-regional travel. Constrained by the presence of Lake Ontario on the south, and, in part induced by the accessibility afforded by Highway 401, much of the Toronto regional development over the last two decades has extended well north. Today, Highway 401 cuts a narrow path to densely developed commercial and residential corridors. With this growth came a significant increase in demand for east-west travel along the northern half of the Toronto region. Highway 401 was extensively widened to its current multiple-roadway cross section which reaches as much as 14-lanes in some areas. As shown in Exhibit 1, Highway 401 is one of the most heavily traveled routes in North America, with average daily traffic volumes in access of 325,000 vehicles per day along many segments. What was once intended to provide a congestion-free bypass of the Toronto area has, itself, become one of the most congested routes in the region. (A)
Abstract