List of unused highways in Canada

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Main article: Unused highway

An unused highway may reference a highway or highway ramp that was partially or fully constructed but was unused^{[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]} or later closed^[10][11][12]. An unused ramp can be referred to as a stub ramp^[13], stub street^[14][2][15], stub-out^[2], or simply stub^[16][17]. The following is a list:

Contents 1 Canada 1.1 Alberta 1.1.1 Calgary 1.2 Ontario 1.3 British Columbia 1.4 Manitoba 1.5 Saskatchewan 1.6 Québec 1.7 Nova Scotia 2 See also 3 References

[edit] Canada

[edit] Alberta

[edit] Calgary

In the 1990's, Calgary developed a strange habit of removing 1/4 of an existing cloverleaf and replacing it with stoplights and a left-turn lane.

• At the Highway 1/Sarcee Trail SW interchange just west of Calgary, the remains of a cloverleaf ramp are still there. The old cloverleaf ramp has been replaced with a single left-turn ramp.[19]

• Another example of the crippling of a Calgary Cloverleaf is the Glenmore Trail / Blackfoot Trail interchange, where the SW leaf (Glenmore E to Blackfoot N) was removed and replaced with a left-turn lane and stoplights. [20]

[edit] Ontario

In Windsor:

• From Highway 401 to Provincial Road, there is an abandoned SB to EB loop ramp. it has now been supplanted by a left-turn lane to the NB-to-EB ramp. It is abandoned, but easily visible from both the road and freeway. [21]

In Hamilton:

• From Plains Road East, heading Westbound, looping around in a cloverleaf ramp to Queen Elizabeth Way Eastbound/Southbound. [22]

In Niagara-on-the-Lake:

• From Glendale Avenue, heading Eastbound, looping to an abandoned portion of former Highway 55. [23]

In Toronto:

• From the Bloor Street-Don Valley Parkway connector to a now-abandoned alignment of Bayview Avenue. [24]

In Oshawa:

• There is what appears to be a former on-ramp from Farewell Road at Bloor Street out towards the eastbound Highway 401. There is a dead-end sign at the very end, and it can be clearly seen from the highway. It's now mostly used by truck drivers to rest. [25] Note: this is the former original alignment of Bloor Street, prior to the building of the 401 extension east of Oshawa, not an abandonded on-ramp.

[edit] British Columbia

Many ramp stubs in BC are remains of ramps from older interchanges that have been reconfigured. Often these ramp stubs are minimally maintained and used as service roads for tow-trucks and emergency response vehicles.^{[citation needed]}

• On Highway 1, some ramp stubs exist at the Exit 37/Gaglardi Way Interchange. Seen from the overpass, and somewhat clearly from Highway 1, they give a sign that Gaglardi Way once had a plan to be extended. [26]

• Two ramp stubs exist at Exit 44-Cape Horn Interchange on Highway 1. Seen from the overpass, the ramp stubs show that this was a trumpet interchange- reconfigured due to weaving [27].^{[citation needed]}

• A few ramp stubs exist at Highway 1 at Exit 58, 200 St. When the interchange was reconfigured into a diamond-SPUI hybrid, the remaining ramps can be seen unclearly from the overpass on Highway 1. The remains of the old road to the now demolished old overpass can be seen clearly. However, the space inside the former ramps are now being developed, and these ramp stubs may disappear among townhouses and business complexes. A low-resolution overhead view of the interchange is at [28]

• The No. 3 Road exit near Abbotsford on Highway 1 clearly bears a closed ramp, which has been replaced by a cloverleaf ramp.[29]

• Ramp stubs also exist at what used to be an interchange between Highway 99 and Railway Drive in Surrey; this is located between exits 10 and 16, at Highway 99's overpass over the Burlington Northern railway. It is very probable that this interchange was abandoned simply because this is a sparsely populated area and the nearby train station is no longer used.[30]

• A few ramp stubs exist at the Highway 99/Highway 91 interchange in Richmond. [31]

• A ramp stub exists at the Highway 99/Sea Island Way interchange in Richmond. It was likely changed when the new ramp was built to connect Bridgeport Road and the newer Sea Island bridge up north, which would replace the two-lane Moray bridge. [32]

• At the Grand McConachie/Russ Baker Way interchange, there is a small unused concrete strip, which suggests the interchange's configuration before the Sea Island Bridge was constructed. [33]

• An old road bed exists at the Highway 91/Nordel Way interchange, near the NB 91-WB Nordel Way cloverleaf ramp.[34] This indicates that the ramp may have been moved east, probably due to safety concerns.

• A short stub of concrete and a strip of grass lay on the Southwestern side of the Highway 1/Highway 11 interchange, indicating a diamond interchange configuration was used in the past.[35]

• Also in Abbotsford, a ramp stub exists at the intersection of South Fraser Way and townline road. The remains of a slip-ramp from Highway 1 to this intersection are clearly seen from the highway; there is also a green painted-over exit sign at the former exit.[36] This ramp was used for special direct access to the nearby Abbotsford International Airport during the annual Abbotsford International Airshow a few times.

• In Abbotsford, at the S. Fraser Way/Cyril Street intersection, unused strips of concrete suggest Highway 11's alignment before the Sumas Way bypass was constructed.[37]

• Near the Pattullo Bridge in New Westminster, there is an unused strip of concrete suggesting a left-turn ramp from Columbia Street to the Patullo Bridge.[38] Nowadays, Royal Avenue is used to get to the Patullo bridge.

[edit] Manitoba

• An unused strip of concrete on the Perimeter Highway to Highway 59 suggests an old alignment before a northeastern section was constructed. Another concrete strip suggesting a cloverleaf ramp was constructed but never finished. [39]

• Other small strips along the Perimeter Highway (notably the northeastern section) are dotted along the highway.[40][41][42][43] However most of these disappeared when the Perimeter Highway was twinned.[44]

[edit] Saskatchewan

• The Highway 7/Highway 14 interchange near Saskatoon, which has been recently improved, bears a short strip of unused concrete on nearby Fairlight Drive, which connected the road to 22^nd Avenue/Highway 14. Travellers now use Diefenbaker Drive and Fairmont Drive to get from Fairlight to Highway 14.[45]

[edit] Québec

• There is also a stub ramp at the end of Commerce A-1 off Autoroute 50 at Mirabel, as well as a stub ramp off A-50 westbound just prior to the interchange. See it here. Note: Since the Mirabel Airport is being phased out, and its closure is planned, we are to expect major changes in highway planning in this area. Unfinished Highways 13 and 50 lose part of their strategic importance.
• There are stub ramps on eastbound and westbound Autoroute 40 near Montréal just west of the interchange with Boulevard des Anciens-Combattants [46].
• There are ramp stubs at the northern terminus of Autoroute 13 at Autoroute 640 in Boisbriand. There are two extra overpasses (for a total of four), an unused cloverleaf loop, stub ramps where the final two cloverleafs would be constructed, and even the grading for a continuation of the freeway north of here. [47]
• Autoroute 440 (Autoroute Dufferin-Montmorency) has ramp stubs just above Rue St-Vallier Est (St. Vallier Road East) in downtown Quebec City, for a proposed completion of A-440 and link to A-973 (Autoroute Laurentienne)/Route 175 via an under-city Tunnel (much like Autoroute 720 in Downtown Montreal) in the St-Roch and Limoilou neighbourhoods. The ramps would have connected to the tunnel, but it was never built, and the freeway remains in two sections to this day, separated by downtown. The western end of A-440 starts at the Autoroute 40/Autoroute 73 interchange, and currently ends its freeway segment at Avenue St-Sacrement, continuing as Boulevard Charest (Charest Boulevard). It resumes at the intersection of St. Vallier Road East, continuing along the river to Route 138 in Boischatel. [48][49]
• Autoroute 15 in Brossard and La Prairie has ramp stubs for a proposed Autoroute-to-Autoroute interchange (Autoroute 6). The interchange was graded as a Y-interchange, but the carriageways for A-15 were built closer together, and the interchange has been cancelled. A-6 may have been routed towards the Farnham, Quebec area, possibly with the name Autoroute Haute-Richelieu (Upper Richelieu Autoroute). An interchange ramp was also graded for Boulevard Taschereau (Taschereau Boulevard, Route 134), but has been cancelled as well. [50]
• Autoroute 40 and Autoroute 55 in Trois-Rivières. Autoroute 40 was planned to continue straight East from this interchange. What remain is a partial cloverleaf interchange, with a visible 'ramp from nowhere' merging onto 40 East on the western part of the interchange, and a discarded right lane made of large and ugly white stripes on the roadway. Quebec-Montreal travelling vehicles coming from A-55 North and going westbound on A-40 need to suffer the excessive weaving with traffic exiting A-40 East to A-55 North within the rather small distance separating the loops, which are more like a signature of an abandoned project rather than an optimal design for a 3-way interchange. [51]
• Autoroute 40 and Autoroute 73 in Quebec city. A 4-way interchange converted to a very huge and fast turning 3-way interchange, with at least 4 visible ramp stubs. [52]

[edit] Nova Scotia

• In Halifax, there is an abandoned stub ramp/bridge at the intersection of Highway 111 and Barrington Streets. [53]

[edit] See also

• List of unused highways
• List of ghost towns

[edit] References