Driving across the GTA in Rush Hour

[bigwinner]

Hey, question for my fellow GTA residents. Being that I live in Newmarket and work in Markham I've never had to deal with the real nasty GTA traffic. But tonight, I've got to pick up something in Oakville after work. Therefore I will be attempting to drive from Markham to Oakville at 5:00 PM. :|

My plan is to take 404 south to 401 and then take that all the way across to QEW and into Oakville. Mapquest tells me that this would take 42 min. But I figure it'll take closer to 2 hrs. Is there any chance it'll take less than 2 hrs? Cause I want to be there by 7.

Give me your best estimates!


Thanks :)

[JAC]

What about the 407?

[actng]

take the 407

[aquariaguy]

Take the 407. The DVP is gonna be like hell. And when you hit 401 its gonna be a crawl. Unless you like road rage have fun :cheesygri

[gilboman]

take the 407

[JoeO]

I'd say more like 1hour and 30-45 minutes. I can go from Markham to Hamilton in 2 hours in rush hour.... But its not a fun drive.

[skuntbehavior]

407 it.

you will be in traffic for at least, and as you mentioned, 2 hours.

[alkaseltzer01]

You're looking at two hours plus drive for a Friday rush hour if you want to take the 401.

[rookie]

Good Luck! Not the way I would want to be spending my Friday evening.

[akito925]

park at union station, take the go train from toronto, to oakville, 45 min train ride but ya get there. lol.

then take a bus from oakville if its close by.

[mr.sub]

ya 407 is best bet

[toky]

I don't know about the 407, but if you can get there in 2 hrs I would say you are very lucky. From what I saw from the other side of the 401 around 5 pm every time it was a crawl all the way from 404 to 400. Have you ever considered Hwy 7 and then 400 down to 401?

Keep your cool and give yourself lots of time.

[actng]

Just take the 407 already. It's well worth it.

[Mcp]

Go west as far as you can before going south.... Stay far, FAR away form the 401 it is usless....

Take 7 over to 427 then along qew

For sure I could do it in 2 hours, but I would not be taking the hwy...


"There's always a route!"

[coldWater]

I don't know about the 407, but if you can get there in 2 hrs I would say you are very lucky. From what I saw from the other side of the 401 around 5 pm every time it was a crawl all the way from 404 to 400. Have you ever considered Hwy 7 and then 400 down to 401?

Keep your cool and give yourself lots of time.

from what i see, hwy 7 is not a bad after you pass Leslie

[bigwinner]

It looks like the 407 might be worth the extra money. So how much faster do you think the 407 might be? I'm thinking of taking it from Woodbine to the 410, then down. What do you think my average speed may be at this time of day on the 407?


Thanks!

[Mcp]

It looks like the 407 might be worth the extra money. So how much faster do you think the 407 might be? I'm thinking of taking it from Woodbine to the 410, then down. What do you think my average speed may be at this time of day on the 407?


Thanks!


You obviously have too much cash!!! you will pay like $20 for a shot trip...

[bigwinner]

No, I wouldn't be taking the 407 on the way back. It's just that I'm in a rush to get there because I have to meet someone by 7:00. Therefore, according to the online calculator I'd be paying $8.52 one way. But now I'm not so sure because, I read your idea and I like it. Perhaps I can avoid the hwy, take the small roads and still make it in 2 hours. Just how fast will the 407 be at that hour?

[actng]

the 407 is fast. hwy 7 is dog slow cause of all the slow pokes that do 70 and the red lights.

i went from woodbine + esna park to 16th + and bayview to my friend's place. i took woodbine, 407, bayview, he took woodbine, hwy 7, bayview.

i got to his house 20 minutes before he did. multiply that by the distance you're going and there's your savings in time.

When you come back, you can probably take 401 again. Friday rush hour ends earlier coming into town. only hold up is at yorkdale area.

[Gee]

I would take the DVP to Lakeshore and then QEW to Oakville.

The DVP is not that bad at 17:00h because everyone is leaving the downtown core and returning to the burbs.

You will encounter some delays on Lakeshore, but once you past Bathrust, it is smooth sailing till you reach Dixie, but then it is a short ride to Oakville.

I think the entire trip can be done in 90 minutes.

Stay away from the 407. Double dipping is unacceptable. You already pay tax for gas, there should be no fees for the roads. Yes I know the 407 is a private road, but it is patrolled by public servants, which you pay for.

[frogger]

Up in Newmarket are there not pretty good roads you can take that run west atleast as far as the 400? Stay North as long as possible then come south. Except avoid the 403 south at that time, its pretty bad.

[eelfliw]

401 during Friday afternoon rush hour...... takes me appx 1 hr to get from 404 to 403.

If you can delay your trip by 2 hrs, then this will take you 25 min and a LOT LESS aggrevation.

407... if someone's paying me to take it, I'll take it. But there's still a chance you'll get stuck in traffic jam around Pine Valley.

[Kevin T]

Hwy7 is only busy East of Bayview... which is why each time I go west, I take 407 from Warden to Bayview, and then Highway7 where you can average 100.

[bigwinner]

As it turned out Gee was the winner! I took his advice because:

a) seemed reasonable that people would be heading in the opposite direction to go north at that time.

b) didn't involve crazy 407 fees.

c) very simple route for a country boy like myself that hasn't done much big city driving.

His prediction turned out very well, as it took me 97 minutes to get from Woodbine/Hwy 7 (Markham) to QEW/Winston Churchill (Oakville). I had 3 slow downs though:

- Going south on 404 around Shepard
- Gardiner right in front of the Dome
- Gardiner/427/QEW <- (Pretty bad, spent most of my time here)

I'm glad I didn't take the 401 though, I can't imagine how that would've been. It's funny how 1 hour can make such a difference. On my way back I left Oakville at 7:30 and arrived in Newmarket (even further than Markham) at 8:15 (45 min.).

Thanks Gee!

[gilboman]

I would take the DVP to Lakeshore and then QEW to Oakville.

The DVP is not that bad at 17:00h because everyone is leaving the downtown core and returning to the burbs.

You will encounter some delays on Lakeshore, but once you past Bathrust, it is smooth sailing till you reach Dixie, but then it is a short ride to Oakville.

I think the entire trip can be done in 90 minutes.

Stay away from the 407. Double dipping is unacceptable. You already pay tax for gas, there should be no fees for the roads. Yes I know the 407 is a private road, but it is patrolled by public servants, which you pay for.

404 south is usually pretty bad around 500pm actually from steeles down past 401 its usually very solid so he lucked out today.

and you are confused about the 407... they PAY for police to patrol it. so your tax dollars arent used to patrol it.

[Talamasca]

I read that the 401 in the north Toronto area is the busiest expressway in the world. In other words, stay away!

With little traffic, my commute can be done in 15 minutes on the 401 but the typical time is 45-60. Not fun.