Should I keep & ship my car or buy a new one? NEED ANSWER FASTish

[aceplace57]

That sounds like the state highways where I live. The 120 mile trip to my mom’s house is all state highway. 2 lane and there’s a few places where they added a passing lane to get traffic moving.

[Spoons]

@Kenm

At the Manitoba border the highway is four-lane to Vancouver via the Coquihalla Highway, which occasionally is wider than that for semi-trailers slowly climbing mountains.

I’m not sure. I know that they are double-tracking Highway 1 from Banff to Lake Louise, but after that, it’s just two-lane blacktop to Kamloops. There, you can pick up the Coquilhalla to Hope; four-lane Interstate-standard to Hope all the way; and the same into Vancouver.

But I was through the Kicking Horse and Field a few years ago. Yes, eastbound traffic had a passing lane up the Big Hill, but I did not see two-lanes-east-two-lanes-west. However, things may have changed.

[Cyros]

@Spoons

Not in Canada. I say that as one who has driven coast-to-coast in Canada a few times.

Roads are generally good, but we have no Interstates. If I remember the Maritimes, it’s two-lane blacktop; and if the OP is coming from Newfoundland, an eight-to-fourteen-hour ferry trip (depending on the Argentia route or the Port-aux-Basques route) must be taken into consideration. So must their schedules; I well remember getting to the docks in Port aux Basques, Newfoundland, and finding I had to wait eight hours for the next ferry to Nova Scotia. Then, there was the crossing time of eight hours. Total “as the crow flies” distance between Port aux Basques and North Sydney NS was 113 miles; total time I took to cover that distance was 16 hours.

Double-tracked Interstate-standard highways exist in southern Ontario and Quebec, but in northern Ontario (where the OP would have to go), the only road is two-lane blacktop at 55 mph, and goes through the middle of towns and cities, rather than bypassing them as Interstates do. The Prairies are double-tracked all the way, usually at 70 mph, but again, the road goes through towns and cities where slowing down is necessary, and there are level road and rail crossings. Then there are the Rockies: two-lane blacktop again, and lower speed limits in the mountain parks.

Six hundred miles a day can be done (and I’ve done it), but especially in Ontario, it’s closer to a 14-hour drive than a 10-hour one.

It is not that bad. Except for maybe the first part through Nova Scotia from Sydney to New Glasgow I believe the highway is twinned all the way through to Edmundston. It is a single highway through the first bit of Quebec. Going through Ottawa, Sudbury to Sault Ste. Marie is not bad driving (at least I didn’t find it so when I did it a couple of times). I found the only real killer drive was between Sault Ste. Marie and Winnipeg (it was too early to stop at Thunder Bay so I stubbornly pressed on. That was a long drive) but that can be avoided by going through the States (and taking advantage of cheaper gas).

[Moonlitherial]

@Cyros

It is not that bad. Except for maybe the first part through Nova Scotia from Sydney to New Glasgow I believe the highway is twinned all the way through to Edmundston. It is a single highway through the first bit of Quebec. Going through Ottawa, Sudbury to Sault Ste. Marie is not bad driving (at least I didn’t find it so when I did it a couple of times). I found the only real killer drive was between Sault Ste. Marie and Winnipeg (it was too early to stop at Thunder Bay so I stubbornly pressed on. That was a long drive) but that can be avoided by going through the States (and taking advantage of cheaper gas).

Yes when I drove from Calgary to Toronto I went the southern route through the US. Saved a bundle and didn’t have to deal with western Ontario.

LOL I just went to google maps to check if it was actually longer and they recommend two routes - BOTH go through the US. Tried to put in waypoints to force it through Canada - even Sault Ste. Marie to Winnipeg they want you to go through the US. Google does not like the Northern route over Lake Superior. Finally forced it and the estimate is about 3 hrs longer to drive from Toronto to Calgary if you stay in Canada.

[Kenm]

@Spoons

I’m not sure. I know that they are double-tracking Highway 1 from Banff to Lake Louise, but after that, it’s just two-lane blacktop to Kamloops. There, you can pick up the Coquilhalla to Hope; four-lane Interstate-standard to Hope all the way; and the same into Vancouver.

You’re right. I had forgotten about that stretch.

[j666]

Spoons, that sound nice. I drove one way on the interstates and one way on highways (I sort of did the Olde Route 66 thing), and the interstates are a tab boring. One just has to get in the right mindset.

[buddha_david]

@Spoons

Double-tracked Interstate-standard highways exist in southern Ontario and Quebec, but in northern Ontario (where the OP would have to go), the only road is two-lane blacktop at 55 mph, and goes through the middle of towns and cities, rather than bypassing them as Interstates do. The Prairies are double-tracked all the way, usually at 70 mph, but again, the road goes through towns and cities where slowing down is necessary, and there are level road and rail crossings. Then there are the Rockies: two-lane blacktop again, and lower speed limits in the mountain parks.

What about driving south through the U.S.? We’ve got really nice Interstates that connect coast-to-coast, if you don’t mind driving through some war-ravaged ghost towns like Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit, etc.

[Spoons]

@buddha_david

What about driving south through the U.S.? We’ve got really nice Interstates that connect coast-to-coast, if you don’t mind driving through some war-ravaged ghost towns like Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit, etc.

That’s a good idea, and I’d like to try it sometime. But one (of a few) reasons I’ve always done an all-Canadian route is that I tend to stop and see friends along the way. Still, going through the US is a good idea–it would certainly change the trip up a bit.

[IvoryTowerDenizen]

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