Toronto driving info needed

[kranky]

I will need to drive from NY to Pickering ONT on a Saturday and back again on Sunday.

Should I take the 407ETR on a weekend? Or can I avoid the toll by using Hwy 403 then 401? If necessary I'd pay the toll to avoid sitting in traffic for an hour, but I don't know what the traffic might be like on weekends.

 

[sushiwarrior]

What time of the day will you be hitting Toronto? The ETR is approx. $15 for the distance you need to go, maybe a bit more, however the 403/401 will be equally as fast as long as you aren't driving during peak hours (~4-6PM).

 

[RGUN]

Long weekend traffic!!

 

[Juddog]

I will need to drive from NY to Pickering ONT on a Saturday and back again on Sunday.

Should I take the 407ETR on a weekend? Or can I avoid the toll by using Hwy 403 then 401? If necessary I'd pay the toll to avoid sitting in traffic for an hour, but I don't know what the traffic might be like on weekends.

Where in NY are you driving from? I normally just take the QEW most of the way (405 / 403).

 

[digiram]

I'm not positive, but this might be caribanna weekend. If it is, I would avoid driving to T.O. at all cost.

 

[sdifox]

I will need to drive from NY to Pickering ONT on a Saturday and back again on Sunday.

Should I take the 407ETR on a weekend? Or can I avoid the toll by using Hwy 403 then 401? If necessary I'd pay the toll to avoid sitting in traffic for an hour, but I don't know what the traffic might be like on weekends.

This weekend? 401 should be drivable.

 

[sdifox]

I'm not positive, but this might be caribanna weekend. If it is, I would avoid driving to T.O. at all cost.

401 is pretty far from Caribana

 

[Eug]

401 is pretty far from Caribana

Lots of US visitors during Caribana. Dunno how bad the 401 traffic is though.

---

BTW, Pickering isn't actually in Toronto. Going from NY to Pickering and back, means you've never visited Toronto. EDIT: WTF talking about Eug? See below.

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P.S. Speaking of Caribana:

 

[Howard]

Lots of US visitors during Caribana. Dunno how bad the 401 traffic is though.

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BTW, Pickering isn't actually in Toronto. Going from NY to Pickering and back, means you've never visited Toronto.

Wha? 401 goes through Toronto.

 

[Eug]

Wha? 401 goes through Toronto.

Yeah, my bad. I had a brain fart as I was thinking he'd come from the east, since NY is east of Toronto. However, that was stupid thinking on my part. That'd be the long way around to go up towards Kingston through Syracuse and then head west.

He'd likely go west to Buffalo and make the trip around the west side of the lake. The especially stupid part is I've done the same drive myself a couple of times. Doh!

P.S. The easiest route was to head to Rochester, and then take the ferry across to Toronto. However that money-losing brainchild of Rochester no longer exists. It didn't save much time, but it's much more pleasant to just sit on a boat for a couple of hours and watch a movie than it was to drive through Buffalo.

 

[kranky]

I'm going Peace Bridge/QEW, probably hitting Canada around noon on Saturday, leaving Pickering on Sunday around 1 PM. End of August.

 

[Imp]

Pickering? I'm sorry...

You can take QEW straight onto the Gardiner, then up the DVP, then back on the 401... but the Gardiner is substandard, congested, falling down piece of shit. DVP is congested 24/7/365: weekend for people going into Toronto for fun, weekdays for work and fun.

The usual bypass route is QEW to 403 way out west of Mississauga, follow 403 to where it ends and becomes the 410, then back onto 401. The other bypass route is take the QEW then take the 427 just before the QEW becomes Gardiner and back onto 401.

Since the 403 route is further outside of down, you'll avoid Toronto congestion better.

 

[kranky]

Pickering? I'm sorry...

You can take QEW straight onto the Gardiner, then up the DVP, then back on the 401... but the Gardiner is substandard, congested, falling down piece of shit. DVP is congested 24/7/365: weekend for people going into Toronto for fun, weekdays for work and fun.

The usual bypass route is QEW to 403 way out west of Mississauga, follow 403 to where it ends and becomes the 410, then back onto 401. The other bypass route is take the QEW then take the 427 just before the QEW becomes Gardiner and back onto 401.

Since the 403 route is further outside of down, you'll avoid Toronto congestion better.

Went with this plan and it worked great, thanks a lot.

 

[Charles Kozierok]

Figuring out if there will be bad traffic in Toronto is easy, because there's always bad traffic. I've gotten stuck in traffic jams at 1 am.. and that was when the place was less populated.

Toronto's approach to traffic congestion is to not build new highways so that people will take mass transit.

If you value your sanity, strongly consider taking I81 north and going through the Thousand Islands. It's basically the same driving time as the other way even not taking traffic into account, and will save you from having to drive through Toronto entirely.

 

[brianmanahan]

remember, they drive on the left side of the road

 

[sdifox]

remember, they drive on the left side of the road

que?

 

[sdifox]

Figuring out if there will be bad traffic in Toronto is easy, because there's always bad traffic. I've gotten stuck in traffic jams at 1 am.. and that was when the place was less populated.

Toronto's approach to traffic congestion is to not build new highways so that people will take mass transit.

If you value your sanity, strongly consider taking I81 north and going through the Thousand Islands. It's basically the same driving time as the other way even not taking traffic into account, and will save you from having to drive through Toronto entirely.

He is going to a suburb of Toronto. Avoiding Toronto is kind of hard :biggrin:

 

[DaTT]

Don't cheap out. Take the 407, you will regret the 401 - 16 lanes of traffic and lots of construction. (busiest highway in North America). Thank me later.

Also, there aren't any toll booths, they send you an invoice in the mail.

 

[sdifox]

Don't cheap out. Take the 407, you will regret the 401 - 16 lanes of traffic and lots of construction. (busiest highway in North America). Thank me later.

Also, there aren't any toll booths, they send you an invoice in the mail.

ez pass works on 407. And he has already done the trip :biggrin:

 

[DaTT]

Never mind, the trip already happened.

 

[Charles Kozierok]

He is going to a suburb of Toronto. Avoiding Toronto is kind of hard :biggrin:

Actually it isn't in this case. Pickering is not really a suburb of Toronto, it is a town east of the Toronto city limits. By taking the route I suggested, he will avoid going through the main part of the city and the much more congested areas between Toronto and Niagara Falls.

.. and I just noticed the date on the OP, lol. Well, maybe people can keep this in mind for future reference.

 

[sdifox]

Actually it isn't in this case. Pickering is not really a suburb of Toronto, it is a town east of the Toronto city limits. By taking the route I suggested, he will avoid going through the main part of the city and the much more congested areas between Toronto and Niagara Falls.

.. and I just noticed the date on the OP, lol. Well, maybe people can keep this in mind for future reference.

I know Pickering is a town. I used to live right next to it :awe: But to suggest going to Kingston from NYC to avoid driving through Toronto is nuts.

I lived in Scarborough for 21 years.

And yes, Pickering is suburbs of Toronto. Call it satellite city if it makes you feel better

 

[kranky]

Just as a footnote, while in Canada I had dinner then a party with a huge of friends at the Trinity Irish Pub in Whitby and the server (Christine) was pretty, quick-witted, and killer efficient. I wish she would train some of the servers at the restaurants I frequent here.

Christine: "I am assigned to your group tonight so anything you need, just let me know."
kranky: So we'll have 100% of your attention all night?
Christine: "Just 99%. Once in a while I have to check my hair and makeup."

I would never thought one person could handle drinks for 50 people who kept moving around a large patio but she was great.

 

[mmntech]

Figuring out if there will be bad traffic in Toronto is easy, because there's always bad traffic. I've gotten stuck in traffic jams at 1 am.. and that was when the place was less populated.

Pretty much, except the transit system is a joke too. Just a lot of poor planning. City's working on 1970s infrastructure designed for a population half its current size, with poorly designed roads. Canadians in general and Toronto in particular live in this tunnel vision world. There hasn't been a big infrastructure project in the city since the 407 went up 20 years ago.

On the transit file, the city has two big issues. First of all, the province drafted up a master plan to develop public transit in the Toronto area. However, it assumes everyone from the suburbs commutes into the downtown. A notion which is a good 30 years out of date. Most people I know live and work in the suburbs, which is where a lot of businesses moved as land/rent is cheaper. Secondly, the city and province expect the suburbs to entirely foot the bill. However, local council estimated that our community would not see any benefits until at minimum 15 years after the project is completed. They rightly stated it's unfair for our community to pay for something we won't have access to. So there's a big debate going on right now. Likely nothing will get done, and it will be sat on for another few decades. It took 40 years for Toronto's first subway to get built.