With the possibility of an early election looming in Ontario, Premier Doug Ford said Wednesday his government will explore building a tunnel for drivers and transit beneath Highway 401 in the Greater Toronto Area.
“This tunnel and expressway will cut gridlock, support economic growth and help get people moving faster,” Ford said at a morning news conference in Etobicoke, while vowing to build the project regardless of the results of an internal feasibility study.
“The reason we’re having a feasibility study is it’s going to determine the length. If they’re telling me, 30 kilometres is x, 40 kilometres is y, and 70 kilometres or 60 kilometres is another cost, let’s take a look at it,” he said.
“But we’re going to get the job done, mark my words.”
The Ministry of Transportation will look at the potential for a tunnel running from Brampton or Mississauga in the west to Scarborough or Markham in the east that connects to major roads along the way, Ford said. That’s a distance of roughly 55 kilometres. The tunnel would not be tolled and would include public transit, according to the province.
The study will also estimate the total costs and timeframes associated with the tunnel, which would be one of the largest infrastructure projects in the world.
Ford said his government would be “transparent” about the potential costs of construction, though it has repeatedly refused to disclose the estimated costs of building the new Highway 413 connecting Halton, Peel and York regions.
The announcement comes as Ford has hinted at an early election sometime next year. During his comments, Ford took aim at both the Opposition NDP and Liberals, saying the parties are “against everything” and they would prefer Ontario remain “stagnant.”
“I know this is an ambitious idea and that some people will say it can’t be done or that we shouldn’t even try,” Ford said. “But these are the same people who oppose every project … Every proposal to get people out of gridlock and get our province moving, they say no.”
Opposition parties slam proposal
Speaking at Queen’s Park, NDP Leader Marit Stiles said gridlock is a serious issue in the GTA but called a tunnel beneath Highway 401 a “silly thought from a government that has run out of ideas.”
“Has he thought about this for more than five minutes? We are looking at years of traffic chaos, disruption, billions of taxpayers dollars,” Stiles said.
“This is not a serious proposal, this is not a serious premier,” she said.
She pointed to the infamous “big dig” in Boston, a tunnel project that was beset by delays and cost overruns and took 25 years to complete. When it was finished in 2007, it was the most expensive highway construction project in U.S. history.
Asked about Boston’s experience at the news conference, Ford said the work would go smoother in Ontario.
“That’s not going to happen here,” Ford said. “We’re experts at tunnelling.”
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie questioned the government’s motivations for the tunnel.
“The real question today is which of Doug’s rich buddies would benefit from this? Who has he made promises to?” Crombie said. “Because Ontario needs real solutions. Not a half-baked, back-of-the-napkin scheme to funnel tens of billions of your tax dollars to Doug Ford’s cronies.”
401 travel times expected to double by 2051
Traffic congestion throughout the GTA costs Ontario an estimated $11 billion in lost productivity annually, Ford said, citing statistics from the Toronto Region Board of Trade (TRBOT).
He added the Ministry of Transportation’s own figures suggest that within the next decade every 400-series highway in the GTA will be at capacity. Similarly, average travel times on Highway 401 are expected to double by 2051, adding an additional 90 minutes to many commutes, the ministry says. Highway 401 is already the busiest highway in Canada.
“We can’t just sit by and let this happen. We need to keep building,” Ford said.
Toronto is in the midst of a congestion crisis, with drivers spending a record amount of time behind the wheel. Is all that time in traffic making us angrier? CBC’s Shannon Martin looked into it.
The TRBOT said in a statement the tunnel feasibility study “marks a pivotal moment” in addressing traffic congestion.
“We need big and bold ideas, and a transit line under the 401 is exactly the kind of visionary thinking governments should pursue,” the board said.
Meanwhile, Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner accused Ford of trying to distract from his “utter failure to address the housing crisis.”
Schreiner said a tunnel would cost taxpayers billions and amounts to “another expensive pet highway from Doug Ford.”
“Ford could reduce gridlock on the 401 immediately by paying the tolls of truckers on the 407,” he said in a statement.
During the 2022 provincial election campaign, the Greens proposed diverting transport truck traffic from Highway 401 to Highway 407 by subsidizing tolls, a pledge also adopted by the NDP during that race.
The idea was first floated by the advocacy group Transport Action Ontario, which argued it would be a far cheaper alternative for relieving congestion than building Highway 413.
Highway 407 runs from Burlington in the west to Clarington in the east, with much of its route through the Toronto area mirroring Highway 401. The stretch from Burlington to the border of Ajax and Pickering is owned by a consortium of corporations and a pension fund, while the length from Ajax to Clarington is owned by the province.