6/24/2009

Brampton G Driver’s Test Route (Ontario, Canada, graduated driver’s license tests)

My brother passed his G Driver’s Test in 2009. Thanks to Google and friendly Internet users who posted their routes online, we were able to practice a few times before the driving test. The route was pretty much the same as others described! In an effort to help future drivers, I want to share with you the possible routes.

Please remember these are only possible routes and the examiners can tell you to go wherever. Also remember you SHOULD improve your driving skills, NOT memorizing test routes to beat the system. After all, I hope we all can become mature drivers and share the same roads. Sometimes I feel it is quite hazardous driving around in Ontario… I hope the supermarket checkout line is the only place I run into you.

Google Map of the route:


View Brampton G Driver's Test Route in a larger map

Address for the Brampton Driver Examination Centre:
59 First Gulf Blvd, Unit #9
Brampton, ON L6W 4P9

My brother’s route:

- From the Driver Centre’s parking lot, turn right onto First Gulf Blvd. (there is a stop sign)

- Drive along First Gulf Blvd. until Kennedy Road

- Turn right onto Kennedy Road

- Once on Kennedy, pay attention to the sign on your right. This is a school zone, if the amber lights are flashing, you have to drive at 40 km/h. If the lights are not flashing, then drive at the regular speed of 60km/h.

- You will travel north on Kennedy Rd., past the intersection at Steeles Ave. After 2 or 3 red lights, you will turn left into the residential area (you will enter from Rambler Dr. or from Tullamore Rd. further down the road)

- You will hit a stop sign, and then turn left onto Bartley Bull Pkwy. Watch out for pedestrians and drive slowly as this is a residential area.

- Further down Bartley Bull Pkwy, there is a school zone on your left hand side. Be sure to slow down to 40km/h. Pay attention to crossings and intersections. Turn your heads left and right and make it obvious! No matter how fake and silly you feel, you need to demonstrate you are always on the look out!

- At this point, the examiner may tell you to turn into one of the smaller streets on the right to practice roadside parking. Remember they can test you parallel parking, uphill parking, downhill parking, emergency parking. They can also make you do a three point turn (my brother only did an emergency parking here).

- You will come back to Bartley Bull Pkwy. And continue south.

- You will hit an all-way stop sign, make a left turn onto Orchard Dr.

- You will make a left turn onto Steeles at the red lights. Once on Steeles, speed up as this road is 70km/h. Remember to switch to the driving lane. Remember both the middle lane and the right lane are considered driving lanes. So if you can’t make the switch right away to the furthest right, do not panic. Also be observant, if there is a bus in the right lane, you can get stuck behind it if the bus makes a stop… the examiners may not like that (I’ve done something similar on my test and was marked as unobservant). So take your time and switch one lane at a time.

- Continue to drive on Steeles Ave., the examiner will tell you to merge onto Hwy 410 and go North

- The good thing about this onramp is that the merging lane does not end, so you have plenty of runway to speed up, signal, check mirror and blind spot, and then switch lane. Remember to reach 100km/h when you merge (but don’t be so stubborn about it, observe the traffic flow as I doubt you can merge with 100km in rush hour traffic)

- You will be asked to switch a lane in and switch out, remember to maintain your speed or even speed up to merge. You don’t want to impede other drivers by merging too slowly that cause the car behind you to hit the brakes, or worse, honk at you). Once you have safely merged into the traffic, reduce speed to around 100km/h

- You will exit Hwy 410 either at Clark Blvd. or Queens St. East. (My brother exited at Clark Blvd.) The examiner will tell you to make a left turn once off the highway. Then you will merge back onto the highway to go South on Hwy 410.

- If you go south on Hwy 410 using Clark Blvd., lucky you! This lane does not end. You again will have plenty of space to speed up. If the examiner does not tell you to do more lane changes, you can stay in this lane until you exit at Steeles Avenue.

- If you end up going south using Queen St. East, remember the merging lane is quite short. Speed up as early as possible so you can reach 100km/h. Signal early and observe before you merge. But always remember to stay calm as anxiety shows (also you don’t want to make poor decisions here). This part I would advise practicing a few times. It will give you the experience so you won’t panic when the real test takes place.

- You will exit at Steeles Avenue and make a right turn. Remember this road is 70km/h

- Get ready to make a left turn at the first traffic light, we are ready to go back to the driver centre. Use the 2nd left turn lane (the one on the right) as it takes you right into the driving lane. And pretty soon, you’ll make a right turn into the Driver Centre plaza.

- Wait! One more thing! After my brother got back into the plaza, the examiner made him do a parallel parking in between two pylons (cones). This is very easy as the pylons are very far apart. My brother also did a 3-point turn here between the fence and the parking lot concrete divider. This is also easy as you will have plenty of space. (In other online posts, I’ve read they could test you this part first before you exit the plaza).

- Final parking is usually a straight forward head-in parking. But don’t forget about your back-in parking either. Remember you can always adjust. You are only fully parked when you put your gear to P and pull up the hand brakes.

A possible alternative:

- Exit LEFT onto First Gulf Blvd. (instead of right)

- Right turn onto Steeles Avenue and travel North on Hwy 410 (the tricky part I find is merging into Steeles. Your merging lane will continue into Hwy 410 southbound traffic, so you want to switch left to stay on the lane that will merge into Hwy 410 north. Steeles Avenue could have fast traffic, so be observant and speed up to merge).

- This route takes you to the highway first. The rest is the same as above, you will enter the residential area, you will probably travel south on Kennedy Rd. (remember the school zone), left turn onto First Gulf Blvd., and finally left turn back to the Driver Test Centre.

Sources and Resources:
http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/showthread.php?t=662034
http://www.canadiandesi.com/read.php?TID=18473
http://www.drivetest.ca/en/loc/dec.aspx