Re: Trans-Canada choke points

In article
<6449adb8-a6a2-4000-b405-aedd7a0665d5@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
Ed Treijs <ed.toronto@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

There are many ways to cross the USA. Not so for Canada: there are
some points where there are no alternatives. If the road was closed,
it would be a Darien Gap.

Highway 17 is the only road leading from Ontario (and eastern Canada)
into Manitoba (and western Canada). There are no apparent
alternatives, unless there's a logging track or ATV track somewhere in
the woods. All traffic crossing Canada will go along this two-lane
road.

A more troubling possible choke point is the Highway 11/17 bridge over
the Nipigon River. If this is ever blocked, I'm not sure what the fix
is. There certainly aren't any substitute highways, just some possible
dirt tracks (hardly suitable for trans-Canada truck and car traffic).
In light of the failure of the bridge on Highway 11 near Latchford in
2003, there must be some contingency plans for dealing with a problem:
temporary bridge? Ferry service?

....Ed

Interesting question! There is always railway service as an alternate
for moving freight, and probably anything going coast to coast is
already travelling that way.

But I wonder, is there the same emphasis in Canada on inter-provincial
connectivity that there is in the U.S. on inter-state travel? Certainly,
there are many parts of Canada that aren't connected by road even to the
rest of their own province, let alone to others. To what extent is the
Trans-Canada Highway an instrument of tourism as opposed to general
commerce?

Probably, most motor traffic concerns, to whatever extent they may
exist, between the populated areas of eastern Canada (from Windsor to
Québec, basically) and those in the west are relying on U.S.-side
highways.
.

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