Ontario PC leader Doug Ford turned heads with a Friday campaign stop where he committed to funding a new expressway tunnelled below Highway 401, though this was just one of a handful of major infrastructure investments promised to voters should the PCs be re-elected later this month.
The tunnel announcement overshadowed another campaign promise, with Ford pledging to extend the Sheppard Subway to meet the under-construction Scarborough Subway Extension, forming a new loop in the TTC’s subway network.
Ford’s plan would see another $22 billion in infrastructure investment, with $15 billion of that figure allocated to priority transportation infrastructure projects that are being touted as an economic safeguard against U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threats.
Buried deep in a press release focusing on the ambitious 401 tunnel, the province promised that these funds would include a plan to push the Sheppard East subway extension even further east to connect the TTC’s Line 4 with the Scarborough Subway Extension at Sheppard Ave. East and McCowan Road.
The truncated 5.5-kilometre Line 4 is often derided as a ‘stubway’ with just five stops through North York, and is known for some of the lowest ridership figures on the TTC network.
A long-discussed extension for the Sheppard subway was finally revived in 2023 when a page detailing a proposed Sheppard Extension was uploaded by Metrolinx.
Plans evolved with an Initial Business Case in 2024, with all options considered, including connections to the new stations being carved out as part of Line 2’s Scarborough Subway Extension.
Though the plan has evolved considerably since revived in 2023, Friday’s announcement marked the first funding commitment for a Line 4 extension linking to Line 2.
