Edmonton In 1969, plans called for
Alberta Highway 2 to continue into
Edmonton, akin to the
Deerfoot Trail in
Calgary, using
91 Street then descending into the
Mill Creek Ravine. However, residents along Mill Creek as well as many others who did not wish to have portions of the river valley destroyed at the expense of a freeway opposed the plans and, as such, they were never completed. The only portions to be completed were 91 Street,
Wayne Gretzky Drive and the
James MacDonald Bridge. This explains the bizarre look of the James MacDonald Bridge's nearby interchange, which was only meant to be temporary, however serves in its original state today. The plan would have also built a Downtown Freeway Loop encircling the city's
downtown core, with freeways reaching out to all corners of Edmonton via present-day Fort Road/
Manning Drive/Wayne Gretzky Drive as the Northeast Freeway,
St. Albert/Mark Messier Trail as the Northwest Freeway,
111 Street as the South Freeway, 91 Street as the Southeast Freeway and would have the designation of Highway 2, and a freeway running along present-day River Valley Road/
Stony Plain Road and
100 Avenue/Baseline Road, which was to be named the Jasper Freeway. While the projects were approved, they were ultimately killed because of cost and the
1978 Commonwealth Games in which Edmonton built an
LRT system instead.
Halifax In
Halifax, Nova Scotia, in the 1970s, local opposition halted the construction of a waterfront freeway, Harbour Drive, after the construction of its centerpiece, the
Cogswell Interchange. The massive concrete structure remained a barrier between sections of the city until it was demolished in 2024.
Montreal Several areas were destroyed to make room for highways in the 1960s and 1970s. At that time, a historical preservation movement involving figures such as
Sandy van Ginkel and
Phyllis Lambert prevented a project to run the
Ville-Marie Expressway along the waterfront of the Old Port, which would have demolished much of the then-unloved
Old Montreal and cut the city off from the river. Many historic homes were demolished to make way for the western section of the autoroute, but the eastern section was reconceived as a tunnel skirting the southern edge of the downtown core and a sunken expressway along the inland edge of the old city. Since then, Old Montreal has undergone significant rehabilitation and is now a desirable residential and commercial district and the city's leading tourist area. Part of the sunken expressway has been covered over (see
Quartier international de Montréal) and the section immediately north of
Montreal City Hall is also slated to be covered. Another cancelled project would have seen Rue Berri converted into a north–south expressway, demolishing much of the
Plateau Mont-Royal district. Only the portion south of Rue Cherrier was built. In recent years, protests took place regarding a proposal to extend the Ville-Marie in the axis of Rue Notre-Dame Est, as an 8-lane entrenched highway that would separate the residential neighborhood of
Hochelaga-Maisonneuve from the St. Lawrence River. The current plan is to widen the current 4-lane road into a six-lane "urban boulevard" rather than converting it into a full-scale expressway. In 2020, the Quebec government presented a project of a new tunnel from
Lévis to downtown Quebec City. The tunnel would have two exit connecting to A-440 which leads to opposition from Saint-Roch residents who do not want more cars in the neighbourhood.
Toronto During the 1950s, Toronto experienced the same sort of
urban sprawl that was sweeping through the United States. Suburbs grew along existing highway corridors, stretching the city east and west, and then northward along the various provincial
superhighways. These highways ended at the city limits, however, and there was little route capacity within the city itself. This caused enormous traffic problems within the city, and a network of new highways to address the problem became part of the Official Plan in 1959. As construction of the network started, the mood of the citizens changed. By the mid-1960s, there was a growing awareness that
the growth of the suburbs led to a
flight of capital from the city cores, resulting in the
urban decay being seen throughout the US. Additionally, several of the chosen routes ran through densely settled neighbourhoods, including some of the more upscale areas of Toronto, like
Forest Hill and the
University of Toronto. While the opposition was growing,
Jane Jacobs moved to Toronto after having successfully rallied groups to cancel the construction of the
Lower Manhattan Expressway in
New York City. Applying the same formula in Toronto, Jacobs rallied local groups to oppose development of the
Spadina Expressway project, while twice being arrested in the process. On June 3, 1971, Premier
Bill Davis rose in the
Provincial Legislature and stated, "Cities were built for people and not cars. If we are building a transportation system to serve the automobile, the Spadina Expressway would be a good place to start. But if we are building a transportation system to serve people, the Spadina Expressway is a good place to stop."
Vancouver In
Vancouver, a freeway project that began with the construction of the
Georgia and Dunsmuir Viaducts in the
Strathcona neighborhood was stopped by activists and residents; the plan was intended to link an eight-lane freeway from the
Trans-Canada Highway through the East End, destroying much of
Chinatown. Before it was stopped, Vancouver's
Hogan's Alley neighbourhood was largely demolished. The complete proposal in reports prepared by Swan-Wooster included a six lane tunnel to North Vancouver. An elevated freeway would have run along the Burrard Inlet waterfront, right through property where two Fairmont hotels and many other buildings have since been built. Another elevated freeway would have run through what is now the new portion of Yaletown, where the roundhouse is. It would likely have been adjacent to or above the current Pacific Avenue, between Old and New Yaletown. The Dunsmuir tunnel, a former freight railroad line of the CPR would also have been part of the freeway. This tunnel is now used by the SkyTrain
Expo Line, a rapid transit line using the
Bombardier Innovia Metro technology developed for Toronto. An attempt was made in 1995 to revive part of the project, adding three lanes of traffic to the north shore; it was also killed by public protest. Successive city councils in the 1970s and 1980s prohibited the construction of freeways as part of a long-term plan. This was taken as far as refusing to have a cloverleaf where the provincially authorized and funded
Oak Street Bridge entered the city. It was allowed to enter directly onto Oak Street, but no other approaches were allowed for decades. As a result, the only freeway within city limits is the Trans-Canada Highway, which passes through the north-eastern corner of the city. Very few major roads have been built in decades although the population would likely have doubled. The conflicting opinions of the City of Vancouver's residents, as represented by their successive councils, and the
British Columbia Ministry of Transportation continue in 2013. Many of the suburbs also want more automobile access to Vancouver. The city resists additional cars entering from the suburbs. The province continues to build bridges and freeways throughout the region, but they end at the city limits.
Windsor Windsor, Ontario is an interesting case of freeway revolt that was later partially reversed. By 1965, the
MTO had completed construction of
Highway 401 from the south end of Windsor to the
Thousand Islands Parkway and onward to the
Quebec border. Plans were announced to extend the freeway along
Huron Church Road to the
Ambassador Bridge, but residents and business owners along the route protested and killed the plan, leaving the freeway's terminus at
Highway 3. Since then, traffic had increased, and a new bridge and freeway was needed.
Expropriation of nearby properties began in the late 2000s for Highway 401's extension to a new border crossing, the
Gordie Howe International Bridge connecting with
I-75 in
Detroit. Construction of the
Rt. Hon. Herb Gray Parkway, much of it below-grade, began in late 2011 and was completed in 2015. The bridge is planned to open in 2025. ==Netherlands==