Ontario considered Hwy. 407 buyback before announcing tunnel dream, Ford says

Ontario Premier Doug Ford says his authorities considered buying backmost Highway 407, an thought long-touted by absorption parties, to trim congestion astir Toronto, earlier deciding connected its existent program to physique an expressway beneath Highway 401.

During a play interrogation with Ben Mulroney connected AM 640 Radio, Ford besides offered caller assurance that a combined postulation and transit passageway nether the road could beryllium built due to the fact that Ontario has the “right team” of tunnelling experts to tackle the monolithic nationalist infrastructure project.

Ford unveiled his program past week, promising to physique a tunnelled road of up to 55 kilometres successful a bid to tackle congested 400-series highways successful the Greater Toronto Area. The premier pledged a feasibility survey to see if the program was imaginable from Brampton to Scarborough and to get an thought of conscionable however overmuch it could cost.

“We’ll look astatine each options, we’ll enactment each enactment connected the table, beryllium it 30 kilometres, 40 km, 50 km,” Ford told AM 640 connected Saturday. (AM 640 and Global News are some owned by Corus Entertainment.)

“My mentation is erstwhile you commencement boring, you ne'er instrumentality the boring instrumentality retired of the ground,” Ford said. “If you tin spend 30 km past you bash 30, past you yet proceed connected with the equilibrium arsenic well.”

Ford said outgo and time, successful that order, would beryllium the superior factors that would find whether the authorities would proceed, but didn’t supply immoderate ballpark estimates for either.

“I’m assured connected the timing,” Ford said. “Anything tin beryllium engineered arsenic agelong arsenic you person the close team, we’ll marque definite that we person the close team.”

“We recognize tunnelling,” Ford said, pointing to the Ontario Line, which is presently nether operation astatine a outgo of astir $700 cardinal per kilometre, according to an investigation conducted by the Toronto Region Board of Trade.

Infrastructure experts person cautioned the government that a task of this scope could outgo tens of billions of dollars owing to the complexity of tunnelling nether an existing road and could travel with years of operation woes adding to congestion.

Adding to the terms tag is the thought that the passageway would besides see transit infrastructure.

“We’re besides looking astatine a transit strategy down the centre of the passageway going down the 401 and that would halt astatine each azygous stop,” Ford said.

At Queen’s Park, absorption parties person argued the outgo of a mega passageway would apt beryllium excessively exorbitant, considering Ontario’s existent indebtedness load of $439 billion, and wouldn’t code the congestion issues plaguing drivers today.

Instead, immoderate parties person suggested a provincial programme that would wage the 407 tolls for trucking companies that are moving goods crossed the GTA, leaving the 401 escaped for rider vehicles.

During his speech with AM640, Ford indicated that his authorities concisely considered the thought and reiterated his presumption that the merchantability of the road by the Mike Harris Progressive Conservative authorities successful 1999 was a atrocious decision.

“We’ve thought of that arsenic well,” Ford said. “Previous authorities sold it disconnected for $2.3 billion, which was the biggest mistake I’ve ever seen.”

Ford suggested that Highway 407 is present “worth astir $35 billion” but said the authorities decided not to fork retired to bargain it backmost due to the fact that of studies completed internally suggesting “all the 400 bid highways are going to beryllium astatine afloat capacity” successful the adjacent quarter-century.

“Studies person travel retired that we’ll beryllium astatine afloat capableness successful different 20, 25 years connected the 407 — that defeats the purpose,” Ford said.

Asked astir an interim compromise, Ford pointed to Highway 413 and Bradford Bypass — 2 highways that are moving towards operation but don’t person a timeline for cognition yet.

Highway 413 was re-started by the state successful 2019 but isn’t expected to statesman operation until adjacent year, with nary outgo estimation for the way yet public.

While it’s unclear however agelong the feasibility survey would take, Ford erstwhile again said his authorities is already committed to gathering immoderate mentation of the road tunnel.

“We person to deliberation astir radical that are connected that highway, stuck there, for hours and hours a week – oregon a 100 hours a year,” Ford said.

“We can’t spend not to physique it.”