Province of Ontario Research Thread

[GabrielT]

Hello,

I want to start this thread and have it in the list of public research. As I have time I will keep on adding stuff.

First off, in Canada, it is the responsibility of the province to plan, build and maintain their roads through the provincial ministry of transportation.
In Ontario it is called the MTO ( Ministry of Transportation of Ontario).

As a budget saving measure, in 1997, the MTO dropped its responsibilities towards most provincial roads. This change meant that counties had to take over these roads passing through their territory; it explains why the road numbering within Ontario is inconsistent. The province kept the most critical links and all of the expressways. Downgraded roads may have changed number but their use from region to region are mainly for locals (in a game like ATS we would not need to go local like that unless there is a X factory important for the game economy) and anyway there would be a nearby major artery kept by the MTO, so the change may not even be visible for people who don't know the area at all.
Anyway, the main roads that we could think of for ATS in a potential Ontario DLC would be the quick list that I write here:

Trans-provincial ones kept by the MTO (very important ones) :

the 7, the 11, the 17, the 400 (to link Southern Ontario with Sudbury using a piece of the 69 which is being twinned in some part and eventually will be the 400 in its entire length) and the one and only 401,

Regional ones kept by the MTO:

the 28, the 35, the 41, the 60,the 71, the 101, the 118, the 144, the QEW (Queen Elizabeth Way), the 402, the 403, the 404, the 407 the 416 and the 417,

Local expressways kept by the MTO:

the 405, the 406, the 409, the 410, the 412, the 418, the 420

This is a good sketch of what the DLC could be fashioned into...

Right hand turns on a red light are permitted throughout the province.
Right hand turns on a red light are not permitted where prohibition signs are in place on the light pole (very rare though).

In Ontario, we have one inter-regional major expressway owned and maintained by a private company. It is a tolled road with a state of the art toll collection system using cameras; there are no booths.
407 ETR (express toll road) is its name. Vehicles having a Gross Vehicle Weight Rating of 5000 Kilograms and more driving on this road must have a transponder (yes, even if you don't have one, you still can go on the road, there are no physical barriers, but when the camera and employees find out, you will get a big fine on the bill.

In ATS, I am not sure that the 407 ETR is relevant because it is fairly close to the 401 and because the road is owned by a private company maybe there could be some licensing hurdle... however the latest eastern portion of the 407 is still a toll road but owned by the MTO as well as the 412 and the 418, but again too close to the 401, might as well ditch the 407 as a whole... (just my opinion)...

more to add