Southwest and Southeast Bypasses (Sudbury)

Infobox road
marker_

province=ON
highway_name=Highway 17
Southwest Bypass / Southeast Bypass
alternate_name=
length_km=24.3
length_ref=cite web|url=http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=9253612239423016855,46.427490,-81.121270&time=&date=&ttype=&saddr=HWY-17+E%2FTrans+Canada+Hwy+E+%4046.427490,+-81.121270&daddr=46.495556,-80.884781&mra=mi&mrsp=1,0&sz=12&sll=46.452051,-80.987091&sspn=0.136008,0.376282&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1|date=2008-01-09|accessdate=2008-01-09|title=Google map showing entire length of the Sudbury Bypass|author=Google Map]
junction=Municipal Road 55, Municipal Road 80, Highway 69
beltway_city=Greater Sudbury
(Lively - Coniston)
system=Trans-Canada Highway

The Southwest Bypass and Southeast Bypass are two separately-constructed roads in the city of Greater Sudbury, Ontario, that form a loop around the southern end of the city for traffic travelling on Highway 17, a route of the Trans-Canada Highway. Most of the route is a Super 2 road with at-grade intersections, with the exception of 1 km of divided freeway at an interchange with Highway 69, although the remainder of the road is expected to be converted to a freeway within the next decade. With the Northwest Bypass from Lively to Chelmsford, the roads form a partial ring road around the city's urban core.

History

Prior to the construction of the bypasses, the Highway 17 designation belonged to what is now Municipal Road 55.

The Southwest Bypass was opened in 1974 as a local route primarily designed to reduce traffic pressure on the main highway by offering an alternate route into the city from Walden and points west. The road was considered part of the provincial highway system, although it was designated with a private 7000-series number and was never signed as a provincial highway - only with trailblazers to Highway 69 eastbound and Highway 17 westbound.

When the Highway 17 freeway route through Walden was completed in 1980, the Southwest Bypass terminus in Lively became the freeway's eastern interchange point. The former Highway 17 route through Walden was decommissioned, although the route east of the interchange remained part of Highway 17 until the Southeast Bypass was completed in 1995.

Route description

The Southwest Bypass's western terminus is at the Highway 17 freeway's interchange with Municipal Road 55. The first kilometre east of the interchange is a transition from the Highway 17 freeway back down to a two-lane highway. The bypass then runs to Long Lake Road, and then a further 1 km to an interchange with Highway 69, widening to four lanes for this parclo interchange; at this point the Southwest Bypass ends and the Southeast Bypass begins. The southeast segment runs for approximately 10 km, partially serving as the southern boundary of the Lake Laurentian Conservation Area. It meets no roads for its entire length (it crosses over but does not interchange with Bancroft Drive), before ending at a signalized intersection with Municipal Road 55 approximately 2 km west of Coniston. Traffic on Highway 17 must turn right to continue on the highway.

Future construction

The provincial government has announced that the road will be four-laned to Coniston, likely around the same time that Highway 400 supersedes Highway 69 to Sudbury. A 100-meter right of way has been designated since the 1970s for expansion of the Southwest Bypass to four lanes [http://www.sudburyswbypass.ca/FAQ's.htm, accessed April 8, 2007] , which has left the route largely undeveloped despite the fact that it passes quite close to an urbanized part of the city.

The interchange at Highway 69 was constructed as a full freeway interchange in 1995, so as to limit traffic disruption at the junction when the rest of the route is four-laned. The Long Lake Road interchange, now under construction, will initially be built with a right-of-way set aside for the new freeway lanes rather than as a full freeway interchange. The Long Lake interchange will also result in the nearby Long Lake Road/Countryside Road and Long Lake Road/Silver Lake Road intersections being realigned.

In the Ministry of Transportation's current freeway conversion proposals for the bypass, access to Hannah and Middle Lake Roads will be eliminated from the highway and transferred either to a service road extending from Southview Drive, or to an extension of Treeview Road. Either Fielding/Kantola "or" Southview, but not both, has a full interchange with Highway 17. In all plans, regardless of which road is interchanged, access to the other road is maintained via Gibson Road.

Any future freeway conversion of Highway 17 past the eastern terminus of the bypass route is expected to take place on a new alignment north of Coniston and Wahnapitae.

Interchanges

References