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Question for Scooter

Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 12:43 am
by Crackpot
Since you're "local" to the area in questiion.

Who designed the parking and general layout of the southbound (at least) Service Centres on the 400 and has their home been firebombed yet?

Re: Question for Scooter

Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 12:57 am
by Gob
I take it you're not a fan then C-P...

Re: Question for Scooter

Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 3:36 am
by Scooter
The Ministry of Transportation put out a tender last year to redevelop most of the existing service centres on the Hwys 400 and 401. Some have been completed and fully reopened, some are not completely done and are offering partial services, others remain closed while under construction, and others will be closed when construction starts. The handful of centres that were not included in the tender were built or rebuilt in the 1990s. I'm not sure if the Ministry had to ok the construction designs or they left that up to the operator. There have been some substantial delays, largely because the cleanup of land contaminated by decades of fuel spills has taken longer than expected.

Re: Question for Scooter

Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 4:08 am
by Crackpot
The northern one looked like they blocked most of the traffic routes to parking in order to add multiple drive through lanes. in most places they had the flow of traffic so jacked up that even if you could find an open space you couldn't get to it (or out of it) without endangering yourself and the notoriously polite Canadian people be they in cars or pedestrians.


The one on 401 I stopped at on the other hand did enough with concrete barriers to guide people where they needed to go. (if not still minorly confusing)

Re: Question for Scooter

Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 4:29 am
by Scooter
I don't think that construction has started on any of the Hwy 400 service centres, so I suspect that what might have happened is some ad hoc redesigning. When the 400 was conceived it was basically a way of getting people to and from cottage country. Now it's a major commuter route, which may explain the addition of drive thrus.

Re: Question for Scooter

Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 4:35 am
by Crackpot
Actually I think it's McDonald's hard-on for dual drive-thrus that's responsible for majorly fucking up the first (northern) one I had stopped there last time thru and don't remember the near clusterfuck I was forced to endure (my teeth were floating) this time.