Tunnel under the 401?

“Why don’t they just buy back the 407 and make it free?”

Here’s a startling flash of the blindingly obvious.

Leave it to a career civil servant – who has probably seen every implausible idea possible floated by elected officials at one time or another – to offer the most common-sense solution possible to the latest political craziness. Congratulations to Mike at Hydro.

On September 25, Doug Ford floated the idea of digging a tunnel under the 401, from Brampton to Markham.  It would be about 60 kilometres long, with cost estimates of $40 billion or more.

“Today, the Ontario government launched the technical evaluation for the construction of a new driver and transit tunnel expressway under Highway 401. This expressway is expected to provide a new, faster route for some of the most gridlocked roadways in the province north of the City of Toronto, extending from beyond Brampton and Mississauga in the west to beyond Markham and Scarborough in the east. This project is expected to significantly reduce traffic in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) while supporting economic growth during construction and in the long-term by helping to get goods and services to market sooner,” reads Ontario’s press release.

 “Today’s announcement is the latest step in our nearly $100 billion plan to tackle this gridlock by building and expanding highways and transit, including Highway 401, the Bradford Bypass and Highway 413, so we can get people and goods moving across Ontario once more,” said Premier Doug Ford.

I’d like to just point out here, that I sold my house near Don Mills and Eglinton in 2014 and moved east after months of fighting my way through the Eglinton LRT construction; I knew that I could not live through multiple years of that quagmire. That was the best decision I ever made, as LRT construction dragged on for a decade and has driven residents and businesses nearly insane.

The thought that Toronto hopes to create similar degrees of chaos around Highway 401 from Brampton to Markham might make drivers who need to use it to earn a living run screaming from the GTA.

“Engineering services will be secured through the Ministry of Transportation, with support from Infrastructure Ontario. The feasibility work will include the following:

• Examining various options to increase Highway 401 capacity, including potential routes within the existing right-of-way, number of lanes, length, and the number and design of interchanges connecting to other highways;
• Refining the province’s understanding of the proposed tunnel’s economic contributions, both in the short- and long-term, as well as the project’s impact on reducing gridlock;
• Reviewing best practices from similar projects in other jurisdictions;
• Conducting initial soil boring testing to improve the province’s understanding of the route’s geology and its impact on design and construction;
• Preparing to start the environmental assessment processes for the project; and
• Conducting an initial market sounding, with feedback informing any potential procurement and commercial structuring strategies.”

Does anyone believe this work will result in a project which could be completed in our great-grandchildrens’ lifetimes, if even then?

Here’s an alternate idea, suggested by Ontario civil servant Mike (last name currently being researched – I’ll update if/when I get it so we can credit him):

“If Ontario has that much money, enough money to pay for all of that – why don’t they just buy back the 407 and make it free? It’s already built. It’s a beautiful, easy drive. It never should have been sold in the first place.”

Even as a member of the Mike Harris government, which sold the 407 in order to be able to achieve and declare a balanced budget, I concur with Mike on all counts. The 407 is extremely underutilized. No matter when I drive it, it’s virtually empty, especially compared to the 401.

And while it wouldn’t be cheap to buy it back, it’s unlikely to cost more than a GTA-length tunnel under the 401.

Best of all, the 407 exists in reality; the tunnel under the 401 is a fantasy. Anyone who lives near the Eglinton LRT knows this.