#YorkRoadRage: Leslie Street and Hwy. 7 have commuters fed up

Streets in Aurora, Richmond Hill and Vaughan top York Region's worst roads list

Yorkregion.com
October 18, 2019
Lisa Queen

Do you hate your commute? Who doesn’t?

Is there a stretch of road where construction is so bad that it adds years to your age?

Each month, we tally up your worst traffic woes.

Based on feedback, here are the top three nominations for our fourth #YorkRoadRage list.

Leslie Street: Richmond Hill -- Stouffville Road to Elgin Mills Road

One York Region resident describes southbound Leslie Street from Stouffville Road to Elgin Mills Road in Richmond Hill as one of the worst roads they have seen in a very long time.

A lane added from just north of the newly aligned intersection at 19th Avenue and ending just south of the intersection is creating traffic headaches.

Many drivers try to pass in the right lane and then create a bottleneck when they squeeze back into traffic.

Now, add a poorly managed traffic light at the intersection of Leslie and John Birchall Road/William F. Bell Parkway. A single car on the side streets triggers the traffic light to change, interrupting the long flow of traffic on Leslie.

And anyone driving south on Leslie then has to look forward to further congestion at the intersections of Major Mackenzie Drive, 16th Avenue and Highway 7.

Leslie Street: Aurora -- Don Hillock Drive to St. John’s Sideroad

Leslie Street is a mess in both directions -- travelling north and south. Between St. John’s Sideroad and Wellington Street, Leslie winds through a sharp curve over a new pedestrian bridge and meanders through construction site after construction site.

There’s dump trucks and development happening everywhere.

“Lots of dump trucks, moving dirt for months,” writes Jodi Saville.

There’s the new subdivision on the east side of Leslie at William Graham Drive; two new hotels, Hampton Hilton Inn and Microtel Inn and suites off of Don Hillock Drive; and a redesign of Leslie Street itself.

Highway 7: Vaughan -- Edgeley Boulevard to Bruce Street

Highway 7 -- westward this time -- snakes through a collection of black and orange pylons as the Viva rapidway project burrows its way though Vaughan.

On the plus side, construction is about 80 per cent complete.

But any hope of driving through this area with your sanity intact is gone out the window with the numerous lane closures, paving work and bridge inspections taking place in the coming weeks.

And during bridge inspections, off-ramps to Highway 7 from Highway 400 will be closed, only adding to the congestion along Highway 400 travelling south. Check 511on.ca for a detailed schedule of closures.