How a Hwy. 401 tunnel went from private proposal to government policy

Long earlier Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced plans to burrow a passageway nether Highway 401, a Canadian operation steadfast with a past of palmy nationalist infrastructure projects submitted a connection to the Ontario authorities to physique a passageway of akin size and scope.

Global News has learned that successful 2019, Canadian operation steadfast Aecon Group submitted an unsolicited connection to the Ministry of Infrastructure pitching an thought to assistance relieve postulation connected the heavy congested highway: an explicit passageway nether the 401 stretching from Highway 427 to Highway 404, with a imaginable transportation to Pearson International airport.

Multiple sources said the thought caught the imaginativeness of Premier Ford and was batted astir down the scenes wrong his authorities for years. It lone became a world successful precocious 2024, arsenic the premier worked to framework the discourse for a imaginable aboriginal election.

In September, Ford announced his authorities would behaviour a feasibility survey connected a 50-kilometre underground expressway from Brampton to Scarborough to find the length, fig of lanes and whether the passageway could besides big a transit line.

“We’re experts astatine tunnelling,” Ford said. “And erstwhile a feasibility survey comes back, past we’ll determination it forward.”

Days aft announcing the plan, Ford said helium had spoken to “one of the largest operation companies” on with backstage operation unions astir the imaginable options to people postulation connected the 401.

“They some came backmost separately with the aforesaid answer… they told maine it’s astir apt adjacent oregon little costly to passageway underground,” Ford said connected Oct 2.

In a connection sent to Global News, Aecon said the institution has a agelong past of “sharing emerging technologies and innovative caller approaches with determination makers.”

“Aecon is arrogant to person built game-changing vigor and proscription projects for Ontarians,” the institution said successful a statement. “Building tunnels successful enactment of transit and roadways to assistance relieve congestion is 1 solution that makes sense.”

Well earlier the Ford authorities picked up connected the thought of a passageway nether the 401, Aecon had pushed akin congestion-relieving operation projects successful different parts of Toronto.

Back successful 2015, erstwhile Toronto City Council was grappling with whether to teardrop down oregon rehabilitate the Gardiner Expressway, Aecon approached the metropolis with an alternate solution: to physique a passageway nether the 18-kilometre expressway.

The idea, sources told Global News, was pitched by then-CEO John Beck who suggested the passageway could tally nether the Gardiner Expressway from Highway 427 to the Don Valley Parkway, with a information moving nether Lake Ontario.

Between 2015 and 2017, Beck was registered with the City of Toronto arsenic an Aecon lobbyist with a extremity of having a “discussion of aboriginal options for the Gardiner Expressway.”

Beck’s lobbying enactment progressive assorted directors and managers successful proscription readying and infrastructure and besides targeted the bureau of then-mayor John Tory, on with his staff.

The proposal, sources said, was pitched arsenic a solution if the metropolis was to teardrop down ample sections of the eastbound information of the expressway.

An estimation of outgo wasn’t attached.

To screen its bases, Aecon past went to the provincial government, which had importantly much fiscal firepower and oversees the remainder of Ontario’s highways, to transportation the aforesaid idea.

Sources said Beck, who was appointed to the Order of Ontario successful 2024, presented the aforesaid thought to the Ministry of Transportation, suggesting Aecon was looking for provincial enactment for the Toronto Gardiner tunnel.

The proposal, sources said, ne'er made it past the 1 meeting.

By the extremity of 2015, arsenic the metropolis voted to rehabilitate the aging Gardiner, Aecon’s connection fell disconnected the radar.

Then successful 2019, congestion and large-scale infrastructure projects became a precedence record for the Ford government, with 2 Toronto-area road plans brought backmost from the dead.

In June of that year, the Ford government resumed the biology appraisal for Highway 413 successful Peel and York Region. And, a mates of months later, enactment began again connected the Bradford Bypass, straight to the northbound of Toronto.

Around the aforesaid time, Aecon approached the Ford authorities with an updated mentation of its tunnelling proposal.

The institution filed an unsolicited connection to Infrastructure Ontario offering a imaginable passageway arsenic the cure to road congestion astatine a cost, sources said, of astir $50 to $60 cardinal to build.

The unsolicited connection process allows anyone with “innovative ideas” to taxable their proposals to the Ontario government, with the caveat that the state “has sole and implicit discretion regarding whether oregon not to proceed with a submitted proposal, and whitethorn bash truthful successful a fig of ways (for example, competitory tender).”

The expressway passageway connection would person taken drivers nether the astir congested portions of Highway 401 — from the 427 to the 404 — with periodic connected and off-ramps and a imaginable transportation to Toronto Pearson International Airport.

Multiple sources who spoke to Global News astir the passageway program praised however Aecon had conducted themselves, pitching the thought done the authoritative channels and waiting to spot if authorities would amusement interest.

They said immoderate thought accepted from Aecon would not automatically person gone to the institution but alternatively person been submitted to a modular nationalist bidding process, a world they said Aecon besides understood.

Initially, portion the thought passageway appeared to animate Premier Ford, it was placed connected the backmost burner arsenic the authorities focused connected gathering the Ontario Line and furthering different road projects.

Ahead of the 2022 election, the Progressive Conservative Party doubled down connected the 2 road projects it had already announced, and ran overmuch of the run promising to physique Highway 413 and the Bradford Bypass.

Then, astir fractional a decennary aft the unsolicited connection archetypal landed with the government, Aecon’s archetypal thought appears to person been converted into authoritative provincial policy.

“With each azygous 400-series road including the 401, projected to beryllium implicit capableness wrong the adjacent 10 years, our authorities is leaving nary chromatic unturned to tackle gridlock and get radical moving,” the authorities said successful a connection to Global News.

In August, astir a period earlier Ford’s announcement, Aecon lobbyists erstwhile again registered with some Toronto and Ontario.

“Discussing proscription projects successful the City of Toronto,” the radical said of its reasons for lobbying metropolis officials.

The registration with Ontario’s Lobbyist Registrar offered much item astir wherefore the institution wanted to talk with ministers of infrastructure, finance, transportation, and Premier Ford’s office.

“To sermon however champion to operation existent and aboriginal public-private concern projects to guarantee innovation is rewarded and maximum competitory bids are submitted,” the filing stated.

Aecon has a agelong past of palmy tunnelling projects successful Canada, including the Toronto-York Spadina subway extension, the Eglinton West and Eglinton East LRT tunnels, the REM passageway successful Montreal and h2o tunnels successful British Columbia.