Good Roads Bulletin: August 20, 2025

August 20, 2025 - Good Roads Bulletin: 2+1 = A Safer Trans-Canada Highway 

In Ontario, roughly 1,750 km of the Highway 17 stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway — not even counting the bulk of Highway 11 — remain two lanes and have no plans to be widened. Ontario is the only province with two-lane stretches of the Trans-Canada. The Northern Policy Institute (NPI) estimates twinning costs at about $3 million per km, meaning twinning all of Highway 17 would cost at least $5 billion, likely more.

Alternately, the Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities is proposing a series of 2+1 expansion projects along sections of Highways 11 and 17 that provide the safety benefits of a twinned highway at a fraction of the cost. NPI estimates that building a 2+1 could one sixth to half of the cost of twinning. The province has already committed to installing 30 km of 2+1 on Highway 11 between North Bay and Temiskaming Shores. The proposal suggests building more in phases, continuing north on 11 through Cochrane and eventually to Nipigon, and from Renfrew to Sudbury on the 17 and eventually in sections leading all the way to Kenora.

FONOM is pitching this plan to the feds and the province as a nation building project.