4 Metro Vancouver roads make list of top 20 worst traffic bottlenecks in Canada

Four roads in Metro Vancouver have made the list of the top 20 worst traffic bottlenecks in Canada.

A new study from Canadian Automobile Association (CAA) looked at traffic congestion across the country and found while Canada’s most congested traffic bottlenecks only cover 65 kilometres, they “collectively cost drivers more than 11.5 million hours and drain an extra 22 million litres of fuel per year.”

“Traffic congestion is a major source of stress for Canadians,” Jeff Walker, vice-president of Public Affairs for CAA National, said in a release.

To come up with the top 20 list, the study looked at speed and volume data on highways in Canada’s urban areas. The bottlenecks were identified as stretches of highways that are routinely and consistently congested on a weekday.

Unlike Toronto and Montreal, Vancouver does not have any expressways directly serving its downtown area, therefore the study chose to include the signalized portion of Highway 99 that runs through downtown Vancouver.

Out of the top 20, Toronto had 10 bottleneck areas on the list, Montreal had five, Metro Vancouver had four and Quebec City had one.

According to the study, Canada’s worst highway bottleneck is the stretch of Highway 401 that cuts across the north part of Toronto.

In fact, some of the worst traffic bottlenecks are serious enough to compare with major U.S. cities like New York and Los Angeles.

Two Vancouver locations fell within the top 10 worst bottlenecks and were identified as producing the slowest driving speeds in the country.

Here is the top 20 list:

1. Toronto, Highway 401 between Highway 427 and Yonge Street
2. Toronto, Don Valley Parkway/Highway 404 between Don Mills Road and Finch Avenue
3. Montreal, Highway 40 between Boulevard Pie-IX and Highway 520
4. Toronto, Gardiner Expressway between South Kingsway and Bay Street
5. Montreal, Highway 15 between Highway 40 and Chemin de la Cote-Saint-Luc
6. Toronto, Highway 401 between Bayview Avenue and Don Mills Road
7. Toronto, Highway 409 between Highway 401 and Kipling Avenue
8. Montreal, Highway 25 between Avenue Souligny and Rue Beaubien
9. Vancouver, Granville Street at SW Marine Drive
10. Vancouver, W Georgia Street between Seymour Street and W Pender Street
11. Toronto, Highway 401 between Don Valley Parkway and Victoria Park Avenue
12. Toronto, Black Creek Drive between Weston Road and Trethewey Drive
13. Toronto, Highway 401 between Mavis Road and McLaughlin Road
14. Montreal, Highway 40 between Highway 520 and Boulevard Cavendish
15. Vancouver, Granville Street between W Broadway Street and W 16th Avenue
16. Montreal, Highway 20 near 1re Avenue
17. Quebec City, Highway 73 between Chemin des Quatre Bourgeois and exit to Avenue Dalquier
18. Toronto, Highway 401 interchange at Highway 427
19. Toronto, Highway 400 at Highway 401
20. Vancouver, George Massey Tunnel on Highway 99