Ontario Provincial Hwy 401 West, Toronto Metro West, Exit 357 - Exit 336

[lemonrind]

The two things I enjoy seeing in Toronto are: the CN Tower, and the 401. They are both impressive engineering feats.

[MasterJediKyleKatarn]

Can we get a shot of Toronto itself on this highway?

[lemonrind]

@MasterJediKyleKatarn I don't think downtown Toronto is visible from the 401.

[tall32guy]

The Wikipedia article has a LOT of good photos of the 401, including a shot of TONS of lanes of almost wall to wall traffic! Check it out peeps! hehe

[tall32guy]

That interchange doesn't seem like much from below, compared to the Harry Pregerson on I-105 that you have the video of. But still very cool! I'm glad you put the pic up in the right corner of the vid to give more of a perspective of how big it is!! :)

[lemonrind]

@tall32guy California interchanges go much higher up in air, and the suspended parts are much longer. Roads in Ontario have to deal with much wider temperature ranges, so flyover ramps need more expansion joints, and are much more expensive to build. Overpasses in Ontario tend to use soil to elevate the road as much as possible before the bridge, to minimize any suspended portion of roadway. In California, the sandy soil means it is easier just to build the whole thing up in the air.

[babarmp]

Which song is this in the Video? 

[terminator95]

401 Biggest highway in the World TORONTO 4 LIFE

[cheese7004]

A good route to drive is I-75 in Kentucky, and Tennesse

[101Restoration]

Next time do the QEW route to Niagara Falls from the Gardiner Expressway to Niagara. Awesome route to take in the summer and Fall

[Heismorethanable]

This is driving I can enjoy without leaving the comfort of home!

[Heismorethanable]

Great videos, well researched with good music. Just add a Timmy's stop (Tim Horton's and you got a classic). 2 questions- what is your most interesting hwy/ freeway you have driven on and what vehicle do you drive. That would be great if I spotted you taping and then see it on here.

Keep up the work.

[Dyml0s]

Ahh the good old 401, this video makes me miss T.O more. I am In Edmonton for a few months, but this brought back some memories :)

[onemanband08]

Thanks for posting this vid. I'm from Nova Scotia, and I've been on the 401 a few times, and I love driving on it, seeing it. I don't know why... It's just an interesting highway to me.

Thanks again.

[FreewayBrent]

@onemanband08: It's definitely one of the most impressive urban freeways on the planet, and it's also *the busiest* freeway in the world. Even causal observers who hate driving/could care less about road infrastructure are usually impressed with the sheer width of the 401 freeway.

Thanks for watching!

[Jean1juan]

@FreewayBrent whats the speed limit in that highway

[Tryhard341]

@Jean1juan The speed limit of the 401 is 100 km/hr. which is about 60 miles

[haljackey]

Any way you could slow down the video a bit? There's just so much to take in, the road, the scenery, the captions, etc. You could stay totally focused the whole time and miss something. I guess it's good that we can watch and rewatch.

Once again, excellent job!

[MVillani1985]

This should show people that Canada is not all maple and pine trees with log cabins and woodsmen (I know nobody over the age of 8 really thinks that, but regardless that's often the depiction of Canada in many cartoons and sitcoms). But to be honest, I'm a bit rural minded, so I actually prefer the "maple and pine trees" parts with log cabins and moose everywhere (pretty much describes the northern third of Ontario, north of Pickle Lake and northwest of Moosonee).

[FreewayBrent]

@MVillani1985: Ha, word. Although, growing up as a youth in California, I tended to focus on the exciting images coming out of Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal.

[MVillani1985]

@FreewayBrent Still, this is great in that it shows that there is a large urban part of Canada. Still, I've always wondered why the lower part of Hudson Bay never got built up like you see along most bodies of water.

[FreewayBrent]

@MVillani1985: Consider me to be completely ignorant on this subject, but I do have 3 guesses. One is that Hudson Bay is not ice-free for the entire year (which effectively would render any major port useless for at least a few months), which made the St. Lawrence, and the adjacent communities that much more attractive. A 2nd guess is that, simply put, Canada's population, at approximately just 1/10th of the U.S., doesn't allow for a large number of big cities. Finally, I would assume...

[FreewayBrent]

@MVillani1985:...assume that the weather is a bit milder in the winter along Lake Erie, as opposed to Hudson Bay. But hey, these are just simple guesses; I really don't know much about the overall development of Ontario, unless it's related to Toronto and vicinity.

[MVillani1985]

@FreewayBrent Hudson Bay does have a long ice free time, and even if there aren't as many ways to get out in the winter, a big fishing industry could flourish. I think that it has to do myself with that the area wasn't settled in the early days, and when people moved out west, they forget about possible northward expansion, even though places like Moosonee really aren't that cold compared to other places. But all we can do is speculate really (although speculation is fun).

[lemonrind]

@MVillani1985 ...because it's COLD! :)

[MVillani1985]

@lemonrind Yeah, the north part of Hudson Bay can get really cold, the northern third of the province (about north of Pickle Lake and northwest of Moosonee, to that point there's some degree of settlement) is almost like frontier land. But I still think the James Bay area, like Moosonee and Fort Albany can be built up as a way to do something about the overpopulation (by relieving pressure on already overcrowded cities like Chicago and New York).

[grvk]

What's the title of this track? Thx :)

[FreewayBrent]

@grvk: No problem at all. The song artist is Phonjaxx, and the the title is "Sensual" (Radio Edit). I also include the song artist and title at the end of every video. Glad you liked the song. :-)

[FreewayTitan]

I wouldn't have expected in Canada! But then again it is one of the (if not the largest) metro area in Canada. That is a very cool freeway. Thanks for working the stuff out on FB by the way ;)

[FreewayBrent]

@FreewayTitan: Yeah, it's no problem. I have another Ontario 401 video (not as polished), that contains footage of the busiest stretch of freeway in the world, in case you're interested.

[bigM10231]

@FreewayBrent have you ever thought of driving I-84 west?

[FreewayBrent]

@bigM10231: I don't believe I ever saw this comment until now. My bad. Are you specifically referring to I-84 in Oregon, Idaho and Utah, or I-84 in New England? I have videos on file in both regions, but have not worked on any of the footage, up to this point, but eventually I'll start dishing out the vids, one by one. :-) Thanks for watching.

[bigM10231]

@FreewayBrent the idaho one

[RedroomStudios]

I actually live in Niagara Falls... did you ever take the QEW through Oakville, Burlington and Hamilton down my way? It probably wouldnt have made for good filming though because much of that stretch is stop and go traffic both ways for about 18 hours a day as it is being widened from 6 to 10 lanes. I really hope they will have it completed in the next year...

[FreewayBrent]

@RedroomStudios: Yup, and that's exactly why I *did not* get a chance to film the QEW. After being stuck in 4 miles of traffic, just south of Highway 403, I gave up and turned back around toward Toronto.

[RedroomStudios]

@FreewayBrent - thanks for your replies man! and thanks also for turning me on to loads of great music! I'm going to have to spend more time going through your vis and tracking down the tunes...

[FreewayBrent]

@RedroomStudios: Hey, no problemo at all. I always appreciate the comments that viewers leave on my videos, and while I can't get back to them all, I try to respond to a reasonable number of my viewers.

[RedroomStudios]

another fantastic vid from my corner of the world.  its always fun to see it through someone else's eyes! I really liked the captions you added with the satellite views of the major interchanges, hadnt seen you do that before.

[FreewayBrent]

@RedroomStudios: I didn't even know you were one of my subscribers, lol. Thanks. The only thing that sorta "ruined" this video was the excessive amount of annotations taking up road space; so much to describe in just 3 short minutes.

[adogg619]

Wow, Toronto has some very long C/D lanes. Too bad we don't have much of those here in the L.A. area.

[FreewayBrent]

@adogg619: C/D lanes are also a feature on the 427 freeway, as well as a short section of the Gardiner Expwy.

[Altaryte]

Do you have any more Videos of the GTA? Like the 427 and the 407 ETR?

[FreewayBrent]

@Altaryte: I do indeed, but not of the 407 or 427 (the 427, I may not release, as I drove it when they were still doing construction on it, last summer). However, I have videos up, featuring the Gardiner, Don Valley Pkwy, 400, 403, 404 and 410 freeways. All will eventually be converted to my new annotation format.

[Altaryte]

@FreewayBrent Oh Ok, great, thanks for the info.

[danielgirotto]

Was this from this year or last summer?

[FreewayBrent]

@danielgirotto: August of 2009.

[ilanaaq]

Great! I get to see my own traffic-choked birthplace on YouTube. Just great. Nice to know it's not getting any better.

Now check out Kitchener/Waterloo on your way back home (72km to the west of your video)... ;) 8-lane widening work zone on Hwy. 8.

[FreewayBrent]

@ilanaaq: lol, great indeed. Speaking of Kitchener/Waterloo, I do have something in the works...footage from last August, in fact.

[Bryant5493]

Damn nice video, Brent.

[VaFreeways]

Awesome video man... can't wait to see the other ones.

[GeoffJennyOliver]

Great stuff Brent. There's a lot of traffic on that one!

[FreewayBrent]

@GeoffJennyOliver: No doubt. Just east of where the video begins is the busiest stretch of freeway in the entire world; 505,000 vehicles per weekday during the summer months! Note that this is a 2006 figure; the Ministry of Transportation has not released numbers for 2007 - 2009, but I would imagine that they are even higher now, considering that traffic congestion has worsened since 2006).

[haljackey]

No kidding about congestion. Traffic is backed up/slow in the other direction from 0:50 to 2:00!

[FreewayBrent]

@haljackey: Yeah, and I filmed this after 11 a.m. too.

[CosmoPhotography]

Damn...the 401 is one epic beast. Thanks for bringing back memories. And, without a doubt, this is your best video, dude. Love the new annotation style you're using!

[FreewayBrent]

@CosmoPhotography: Awesomeness, thank you very much! Sorry the annotations (and how much road space they took up too) took up practically the entire video, though (like 80/20). You will prob never see another video from me with so much information overload, as this one, lol.

[sonysnob1]

Cool vid man, its good to see some Toronto stuff again. I have to ask where you get some of your information from?  For example, the collector lanes _are_ being extended -- but not near as far as you suggest. They are only going as far west as McLaughlin Road for right now. Also, in a previous video I have seen that summer traffic volumes peak at somewhere around 550,000 vehicles per day -- where did that come from? it just doesn't seem right. Anyways, awesome stuff as always!

[FreewayBrent]

@sonysnob1: I actually all of my info from the Ontario Ministry of Transportation's website, so if it's wrong, blame them! LOL. I think you meant 505,000 vehicles per day; I made a slight mistake in that annotation (a different 401 video). That is the number of vehicles that use it every Monday - Friday, from July 1st to August 31st. It's probably even higher now, since their last traffic volume report was released in 2006 (1988 - 2006 PDF file).

[FreewayBrent]

@sonysnob1: I just double-checked. The 505,000 count is correct, however, I indeed made a mistake concerning the widening along the 401. The lanes are being extended only to Hurontario Street. I dunno how I goofed up on that one, especially after reading it twice yesterday. I am going to make a note of this in the video description.

[haljackey]

@FreewayBrent Also, I just read today that the "mmm" group has been contracted to conduct a EA on the widening of the 401 between the 427 and Kipling Ave. One would assume that involves hooking up the two collector / express systems. (which is the term... I see express-local/distributor lanes as the name in the video. Simply saying collector / express would shorten your annotations a bit.)

[sonysnob1]

@FreewayBrent It's not a big deal, I wasn't meaning to sound nitpicky or anything, I just follow Ontario Highways pretty closely myself. Keep up the great stuff, and I look forward to seeing more Ontario Freeways in the future.

As an aside, have you ever shot the Pacific Coast Highway?

[FreewayBrent]

@sonysnob1: No man, I actually really do appreciate being notified of any false information that I may have posted in my videos. As for your question, I've only filmed the PCH in Orange County and just south of San Francisco along Devils Slide. It may be awhile before I get to those videos. I know YouTube member ScrewdUpClickV2 from Texas is doing his first-ever California road trip right now, and may end up posting videos of the PCH along the Big Sur coastline, before I do.

[techman224]

One of my favourite videos, well done. That freeway is WIDE! I think this beats the Katy Freeway in Houston big time. Only problem is that you have too much annotations in this video. Less annotations more roads please. Otherwise great video!

[FreewayBrent]

@techman224: Suggestion, definitely noted. It's what I felt I had to do to describe what the viewers were seeing, in just 3 short minutes. It's not too often that you see a freeway with a ROW for a theoretical 45+ lanes.

If I could go back to Toronto, I would record the entire network again, with the camcorder aimed lower. Oh well, my compromise was to shave off a bit more off the top of the annotation bar, without making the font size so small as not to be legible to read.

[ScrewdUPClickV2]

i think you nailed the editng here .. very nice

[jfs1988]

Well at least were not the only ones with traffic congestion on freeways. How diffrent are Canadian freeways from American freeways?

[FreewayBrent]

@jfs1988: It really depends on the province. Generally speaking, it's really all the same; Ontario's freeways, in particular, really aren't any different than what you would find in the major American cities. The use of fonts isn't quite so consistent in British Columbia, but the majority of signs are the typical US Highway Gothic font that you'll see on American freeways.

[lemonrind]

@FreewayBrent One thing that is different is that Ontario highway signs use less text and more symbols. This is to accommodate people who don't speak English. The Ontario highway system also has to accommodate bilingual regions, such as Ottawa, where all signage must be in both English and French by law. When I first drove in the U.S., the first thing I thought was "Wow, there's a lot of reading to do on these roads!"

[Altaryte]

Wooot! MY favourite videos from you!

[haljackey]

Also, I wouldn't call Mississauga a "massive suburb". Just calling it a city is fine, and should slim your annotation's a bit.

[hhsoul35]

*edit that: 50 lanes?

[FreewayBrent]

@hhsoul35 I'm gonna say 45, at least theoretically (if you were to eliminate that interchange and pave the whole thing over with asphalt, and then paint a bunch of 12 foot lanes, side by side, yeah, you could probably 45 or 50 lanes, just east of the 401/403/410 interchange.

[hhsoul35]

nice shield ;)

so this is the highway that could hold up to 40 lanes?

-jenn-

[ervin2]

Ontario videos again? This is pretty random :P

[FreewayBrent]

@ervin2: lol, I know. Especially since almost everything I've been coming out with has been from my home state. My short term plan is to work on out-of-state videos (still well over 300 of them).

[haljackey]

Ah, cool. Also, you could note some of the overpasses west of 403/410 have already been built to accommodate a wide freeway or were designed to be easily extended rather than replaced.

[FreewayBrent]

@haljackey: I thought about inserting what you mentioned. As I was wrapping things up, however, I thought about the fact that I had inserted enough annotations up to that point to make up a mini paper, lol. Reading can be tiresome after awhile, I think?  I'm going to attempt to find a balance (80/20) between annotations and just letting the viewer watch the road, for the main 401 video. In other words, get the facts in, but then let the viewers enjoy the ride.

[firenewt95]

So many lanes X_X Here in England the most lanes I've seen is a total of 4-a-side!

[FreewayBrent]

@firenewt95: Ha! Are you specifically talking about the M25, nearby London-Heathrow Int'l Airport? I believe that's the only stretch of motorway in the UK to top 200,000 vehicles per day, if I'm not mistaken.

[firenewt95]

@FreewayBrent I've never been anywhere near there, I live in the north of England myself, I can't remember where it was though, so I can't really name it.

[haljackey]

After watching the video again, the annotations would definitely work better at the top rather than the bottom for this video. I would also suggest this for the other 401 video as well.

[haljackey]

Regarding the annotations, would the work better if they were at the top opposed to the bottom?

[FreewayBrent]

@haljackey: I've thought about doing what you described; however, I think having to shift one's eyes from top to bottom becomes too distracting after awhile. As I've already mentioned to others, I think I came up with an adequate compromise, although the ultimate fix would be to just fly out there and film everything again!

[haljackey]

Another one? Amazing job!!!

[FreewayBrent]

@haljackey: Thank you! Yeah, this isn't *the* video that we've been discussing. I'll get around to it pretty soon. I've had some Ontario-area subscribers asking for quite some time when I was gonna release another Toronto-area video, and since this was a short video...thought I'd dish it out now. I definitely had a lot of fun putting this together. You should have a much better idea now of what to expect for the "upgraded" 401 video.

[patrick560sl]

AWESOME!!!! I have never seen a Canada road before (dont laugh) haha you rock!

[FreewayBrent]

@patrick560sl:  Thanks, bro!

[aswchris]

2:30 The 401 will get the longest local-express setup in the world (if it isn't already).

I do agree with Mr Schmidt though, the text takes a lot of the view away.

[FreewayBrent]

@aswchris: Yeah, I know, there's really not much I can do about the footage unfortunately, for I had only had my camcorder for a month at the time of recording; a quick analysis of the footage would've alerted me to lower the camcorder angle.

I wanted to keep my descriptive style for my annotations, without making the font size so tiny, so this was the best compromise I could come up with. I think it works out okay, overall.

[haljackey]

@FreewayBrent

[haljackey]

@aswchris The 401 already has the longest collector / express system in the world from the 409 to Brock road. I don't think any other system comes close to this length.

[FreewayBrent]

@haljackey: I've been wondering, if and when the gap between the two individual stretches of Express-C/D lanes was going to finally be filled in? I can't imagine how awfully congested the 401 must be during peak hours, between the 427 and 409 interchanges.

[haljackey]

@FreewayBrent If? Certainly possible, but it would involve significant reconstruction of interchanges and would snarl already congested traffic for years. When? If it ever will happen, it would most likely take place sometime in the next decade IMO.

[CptSchmidt]

I don't mean to sound like an asshole or anything, especially since you're definitely one of the Youtube driving video kings, but I think your videos would be much better if we could see the road more than the writing. If you set up your camera so we saw more land than sky and allowed the hood of your car to take up your caption space, I think your videos would be MUCH better. I've been thinking about it for a while now... just my two cents.

[FreewayBrent]

@CptSchmidt: I hear ya; the latest films that I've been filming have the camcorder aimed much, much lower, but I filmed this back in the summer, when I was still a recording "newbie".

[mariusbleek]

did you film this when you were in Ontario last year? Or is this recent?

[FreewayBrent]

@mariusbleek: Yeah, I filmed this, back in early August.