Ontario PC leader Doug Ford doubled down on his wildly ambitious plan to create a new expressway by tunnelling under the gridlocked Highway 401 on a campaign stop on Friday.
The proposal to tunnel under the 401, first announced in September as one of the “world’s longest” tunnels, will add new lanes for vehicles and public transit below the congested artery and is now being touted by the Ontario PCs as “one of the largest, most ambitious infrastructure projects in the world”
Despite concerns about the viability of such an enormous undertaking, Ford remains steadfast and positions the gargantuan public works project as a way to bolster the provincial economy amid threats of 25 per cent tariffs that could be imposed by the U.S. government in the coming weeks.
“With the threat of tariffs hanging over our economy, it’s never been more important to do everything we can to improve Ontario’s economic competitiveness and create new jobs and opportunities for workers,” said Doug Ford.
Ford calls the new expressway plan “a gamechanger for our province, securing good-paying jobs for thousands of Ontario workers and adding billions back into our economy as we fight gridlock on our most congested highway.”
The cost of a tunnel extending beyond Brampton and Mississauga in the west to beyond Markham and Scarborough in the east has been estimated to cost between $50-100 billion. While the province has not released its own estimate, Ford’s campaign suggests the cost is justified.
In a press release, the Ontario PC party argues that gridlock in Ontario takes a $56.4 billion annual hit on the economy and claims projects such as this and the controversial Highway 413 are crucial to getting the province moving again.
The province points to the Ministry of Transportation modelling that states 400-series highways will be at or above capacity within a decade, and that the central portion of Highway 401 will see travel times double by 2051, adding 90 minutes to commutes.
