Dirt Roads to Freeways … And All That (ca. 1978)

This video, produced for the Ontario Ministry of Transportation, uses historical footage to survey the history of road building in the province. Highlights include the Queen Elizabeth Way, 400-series highways, and the Trans-Canada Highway.
Cette vidéo, réalisée pour le compte du ministère du Transport de l'Ontario, se sert de séquences historiques pour relater l'histoire de la construction des routes dans la province. Les faits saillants incluent le Queen Elizabeth Way, les autoroutes de la série 400 et la Transcanadienne.
RG 14-152-1-27
ontario.ca/archives
This archival video does not necessarily reflect the views of the Government of Ontario today.
Cette vidéo d'archives ne représente pas nécessairement l'opinion du gouvernement de l'Ontario d'aujourd'hui.

[@garystar1592]

I have been stuck in traffic on the 401 collector lanes since this film was produced in 1978

[@glen6945]

but at least you foooked the old lady in the back seat

[@jftrottier7376]

I remember, in mid 80's driving with my parents from Canada's wonderland on HWY 7...and slept in a brand new Holiday Inn, and Markville shopping Center was brand new.

[@viktoradvanifriman3544]

@5:51 amazing how the train swishes by, A classic. Also the older locomotive- how beautiful!

[@EtobicokeCentralRailways]

Outstanding insight into how it all got started. These are all great videos, really enjoy watching them!

[@glen6945]

and hats off to all those men and women that drove the transit buses in toronto

[@CrystalClearWith8BE]

5:01 I'm pretty sure this scene is where we see the 401 connected with the 400. I mean, look at the ramps as well. The express lanes looked amazing and it's my favorite part of the 401.

[@WanukeX]

2:34 - For people unaware, that's the Gardiner/QEW/427 intersection, the portion of Highway 27 between Evans Avenue and north of Eglinton Avenue was renumbered 427 in 1971 after it was expanded into its current collector-express system, and prior to 1997 the section of the Gardiner between Highway 427 and the Humber River was part of the QEW.

[@ehtz]

When hwy 27 still existed wow

[@omargoalzz]

@@ehtz It still exists... look north of the 401

[@foamer443]

Grew up in Scarborough at Kennedy Rd. As a kid I recall our family vacation, in the early 70's, as always the last three weeks of August. When we left it was on the two lane divided system and by the time we got back the cloverleaf was built and open.

[@weedboy8500]

5:01, the funky track is "The Generator" by Paul Zaza, from the Parry Music Library album "Music Express". That album is from 1978, so this film is definitely from 1978 onwards.

[@ArchivesOfOntario]

Thanks for this info!

[@steelydave]

Thank you, came to the comment section here after seeing a chunk of this on instagram hoping someone would have the goods about what the music was, and you didn't disappoint!

[@billygiamou7435]

Fascinating documentary......

[@robertgiles7434]

Great video! Keep them coming!

[@jacksonlee2192]

I like these archives. Good history

[@JaayRides]

Dam the GO train looks exactly the same as it did whenever that last clip was filmed lol. Probably the same train cars 😂

[@davidsimpson9771]

It looks completely different. What are you on?

[@jasonroman8031]

6:04, still congested, 5:10, still busy

[@areeskinwar7274]

Gardner always blocked there unless 10pm -613am sunday to thursday lol

[@johnk2657]

@@areeskinwar7274 all it took was a pandemic to free it up.

[@fuzzylogic7502]

Very well done. Any chance of bringing the horses back? :-)

[@PatFrenchLeafsFan1]

That's a good documentary, but I was wondering if you happen to have footage of the railway crossings from all across Ontario from the 1960s until the 1990s?

[@ArchivesOfOntario]

Hi Pat, Glad you enjoyed the video! You can search for descriptions of other archival footage in our holdings using the “Advanced Search” option of our online Archives Descriptive Database, accessible at: ao.minisisinc.com/scripts/mwimain.dll?get&file=[ARCHON]search.htm. Here you can search for Files and Items or Groups of Archival records using keywords and refine your search to footage by selecting Moving Images under Choose format. When searching the database, you will want to think about who created or accumulated the footage and how the footage might be described. You will also want to consider when the footage might have been taken and for what purpose. One collection you may wish to consider looing further into is the F 4396-1 CFPL-TV daily news program films and scripts, which features footage from the London based television news program CFPL-TV from 1953-1974. If you have any further questions you can contact a Reference Archivist by email at: [e-mail]

[@thevultrantransituniverse1487]

Holy fuck! Love to see highway videos from the 20th century!

[@lantherpagdi]

Love the music

[@Spike-pp5hx]

What song is at the end?

[@briansokoloski776]

Remember going over the Hamilton Skyway Bridge with parents and paying a toll 5 or 10 cents for a car

[@StarGehzer]

Going from Toronto to see Niagara Falls my parents would take the old route over the lift bridge to save the dime.

[@briansokoloski776]

@@StarGehzer and see the fairgrounds and bowling alley on beach blvd

[@BernieBeetov]

I remember the toll as well. I believe it was late 1974 when they removed it and also removed the roundabout to the east that was the interchange with Centennial Parkway (Highway 20). Trucks often rolled over at the roundabout (I know, a roundabout on the QEW?!)

[@stevengaming3689]

Going to Niagara? I would just take the QEW.

[@CrystalClearWith8BE]

The Burlington Skyway makes people see the great views of Lake Ontario and the skylines of Hamilton and Burlington. Toronto is just 40 kilometers away from the skyway and you can't see the Toronto skyline until you nearly reach the Toronto bound end of QEW.

[@Mr.chickensoup]

we love GO train ❤ best way to travel

[@michaelkrolewski6531]

Ah, the good ol' days

[@biggils8894]

I thought it was the starting credits but it was actually the ending credits

[@MEcapture]

And not a thing a has changed since.. Ontario-Where we know how to waste your money.. Thumbs up!

[@waynemclaughlin8937]

I had no ideal that the QEW was the first super highway in the world? Hmm! I would of thought it being just in Canada, but the world?

[@scsi_joe]

Same here, that's pretty amazing

[@stephenp448]

First in North America, but it was modeled after the German autobahn, so not first in the world.

[@scsi_joe]

@@stephenp448 Ah. But is the autobahn really a super-highway? I mean, from what I know, the Autobahn and the Interstate highways in the U.S. are similar, both of which pre-date the QEW - but that's not what the claim is here though. It seems there is a clear distinction between a 'super-highway' and the Autobahn/Interstate-style highways.

[@stephenp448]

@@scsi_joe If you define a super-highway as multi-lane, controlled access and grade separated, then yes, the Autobahns do count, and they were first. The US Interstate system was initiated by Eisenhower in the 1950s, and I believe also inspired by Autobahns, from Eisenhower's time in Europe during the war.

[@stevengaming3689]

Wonder how many months or years it took to build 401 and 400.

[@CrystalClearWith8BE]

The 400-series highways of Ontario were concepted since the late '30s, but they weren't constructed until WW2 ends.

[@glen6945]

plenty

[@johngaleazza3652]

Can someone name the structure shown at 2:45???

[@ibagli]

It was an interchange between the QEW and the North and South Service Roads in Oakville. It was between Burloak Drive and Bronte Road (which can be seen in the background). The ramps were closed in stages starting in (I think) the 90s and the rest was removed by 2009.

[@frankdenardo8684]

I have driven this highway on my trips to Ontario.

[@andreveers2483]

All downhill after the 70's. Highway construction 30 years behind, transit the same. All those taxes gone into a black hole.

[@ChuckBeefOG]

That’s because Trudeau senior sold our debt to the privately owned foreign entity called “The Bank of Canada”. He sold us out to the banks. We can even cover the interest let alone pay down the principal. I am a slave, you are a slave, your kids will be even bigger slaves and your grandkids will have it even worse.

[@scsi_joe]

@@ChuckBeefOG , @Andre Veers - I am glad there are some smart people left in this country!

[@elid3906]

Chuck Beef Way worse NOW with junior‼️

[@trainrover]

Can o' duhhhhh coupled to its Ton o' rot .. eh

[@discoveryman59]

1903 10 miles an hour in urban areas, well we must be going back in time the way they keep reducing the speed limits in urban areas today.

[@timothyirwin8974]

GO train running down the Don Valley in Toronto at the end.

[@glen6945]

ooohhhh yes

[@glen6945]

WOW THE BIGGEST HIGHWAYS ON THE FLAT EARTH THE 401

[@tandemcompound2]

Meanwhile, here in BC we still have 2, 3, and 4 lane freeways. Ontario has TEN lane freeways. Guess we need to be in the centre of the Universe aka Toronto.

[@nobodyimportant6851]

Actually, it's 18 lanes in some areas.

[@timothyirwin8974]

2:24 Yonge and 401/Lord Seaton.

[@oleksii1406]

Looks like road repairing activities on 401 doesn't stop from the middle of 70s.

[@-smokem]

It's sad that many King's Highways were downloaded to regions and counties.

[@mcaddicts]

Center lines were still white back then.

[@danharasty6686]

Roads aren't dust clouds anymore.

[@TMBpk]

Had no idea those GO train double decker carriages were from the 70s.

[@Nik-ny9ue]

Those things will be around forever

[@johnlozowski8865]

Rename the 401 to the "Jack Webb " Freeway!

[@georgejetson1025]

Lol, why was I expecting a dirt road on-ramp ?

[@jeya9139]

what??? FIRST highway in the world was in OUR ontario ???

[@1982kinger]

Germany I thought

[@peterbelanger4094]

No. It's just Canadian propaganda. The New York City area had the first divided highways. The Bronx river parkway opened in 1907, The Southern state parkway on long island was opened in 1927, and the grand central parkway was opened in 1936. Ontario didn't experiment with divided highways until 1917, and the QEW didn't open til 1940. Canada is still admirable in it's quality of highways, but I guess if you don't have as many to maintain, the few you have get better care. The US went for quantity over quality.

[@scsi_joe]

@@peterbelanger4094 It was the first super-highway, he said in the video.

[@JackReacheround]

Oh fuck yeah fill me with that infrastructure knowledge, video daddy.

[@ChuckBeefOG]

Now we cant even patch the potholes. Its a shame how far this country has fallen.

[@thepleiadianlightgridproje4337]

Lol same shit wit the roads south of the border from you as well lol

[@urbanshepherdgroup2418]

They need to use that road maintance money so the rich elite politicians can live in extra large mansions instead of fixing the roads.😂

[@glen6945]

ace---------------------------reporting the truth

[@123benny4]

I just came here to say: All that and a bag of chips.

[@user-xg8yy7yl1d]

If only they also designed them to be limitless

[@CrStrifey]

The 4 o fucking 1.

[@homiejuicerules2967]

2:35 27 hwy

[@toad3048]

427 today....we used to take 27 north into Barrie on the way north to the cottage

[@glen6945]

ace

[@Krikreduo2]

Look at that traffic flow!!

[@clarke4552]

Lol

[@alisa2702]

so slay

[@donalddday7741]

and today most dirt roads in America are in better shape then our paved roads do to all our tax money going to countries to build their new bridges and super trains and better ports and better medical advances and our military fighting their wars

[@Acvsdfe3245a]

what next? flying teslas?

[@sullysboy]

Interesting, but now Highways and Roads in Ontario are changing and expanding in the 2020s, and it's great.

[@do_not_mot2326]

DO NOT MOT 9-30-19

[@James-nv1wf]

GO transit has not changed, trains breaking down...no refunds. You'd think with all the gridlock we might have some rapid transit in/out of Toronto by now.

[@glen6945]

leave azzhole

[@kk-qu1zc]

HAHAHAHAHA. What happened

[@stephaneracicot791]

Yes finally you can now stop along highway 11 going to Cochrane Ontario and STOP AND HAVE A PISS with out the goddam car or truck keeling over on its side or stop to change a tire or have rest. Problem is now no charging system going up all the way to Kapuskasing Ontario for the batterried power puff cars. Try going up there in minus 40 plus windshield which is about minus 70 going at 100kmh.batteries will never make it.

[@imloved53]

Ha ha your from canada

[@aaronsnider2036]

Government of Ontario Lets GO

[@Ffsdevgj]

That isn’t the 70s

[@glen6945]

ohhhfk off

[@AtticTapes14]

Yes it is

[@glen6945]

wheres trump and biden

[@DaTripper]

should be called the road that destroyed every small town in America

[@nobodyimportant6851]

How do you figure that? This is in Canada.

[@glen6945]

all vancouver has is skid row granville street and the yellers

[@glen6945]

like vancouver think they have highways lmao