Ford government boosts highway spending by $4B amid transit, roads reannouncements

The Ford government has moved to boost spending on roads and highways over the next decade by $4 billion as part of its 2022 Ontario budget.

The news came as the government highlighted multiple existing planned projects and left out figures on megaproject promises such as the proposed Highway 413.

The government allocated more than $25 billion – up from more than $21 billion – in the next 10 years. Despite that increase, most of the projects referenced or set to receive funding have been previously announced and in many instances have received money for planning.

Officials said the 10-year budget funding increase is to deal with increased cost estimates after projects have gone through the tendering process or to add formal budgetary allocations to projects previously referenced in provincial planning or past government announcements. The overall pot of money including spending on early work needed for some of the initiatives, such as buying properties.

One of the biggest new projects to receive funding is the twinning of the QEW Garden City Skyway rehabilitation project in St. Catharines over the Welland Canal. In addition to rehabilitating the existing bridge (which will eventually be dedicated for eastbound traffic only), a new multi-lane bridge will be built next to it for westbound Toronto-bound traffic and several local roads beneath the structures will be realigned.

The project is listed in the Ford government’s 30-year Greater Golden Horseshoe Transportation Plan, which contains a variety of infrastructure initiatives to be done by 2051.

RELATED: Ontario’s 30-year GTA transportation plan includes new transit lines, highways

Another project to receive funding is the plan to reconstruct a 21-kilometre stretch of Highway 101 in the Timmins area.

The government’s proposed Highway 413 megaproject (an east-west highway connecting Highway 400 to the interchange of Highways 401 and 407 through York, Peel and Halton regions) and the Bradford Bypass (an east-west highway connecting Highways 400 and 404 north of King township and near East Gwillimbury and Bradford-West Gwillimbury) were also referenced in the 268-page document dubbed “Ontario’s plan to build.”

Both Highway 413 and the Bradford Bypass have been the subject of multiple announcements to date and form a large part of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario’s reelection strategy, which is focusing on post-pandemic recovery, economic growth and labour initiatives along with hospital and school infrastructure investments.

The major lingering question for both projects is how much each of those will ultimately cost taxpayers. Once again, there isn’t a definitive answer on each as officials cited the need to put both out for competitive bidding by companies.

The Ontario budget also said work is underway to expand part of Highway 401 east of Toronto. It said there will be bridge replacements in Oshawa and Port Hope as part of a plan that could see the future expansion of the highway between Brock Road in Pickering and Belleville. There was also a mention of buying certain parcels of land between Belleville and Brockville for potential future widening.

CityNews asked Ontario government officials for more specifics on the proposed Highway 401 widening, but a response wasn’t received as of Thursday evening.

RELATED: Ontario government awards $1.6B contract for 1st phase of GO Transit train electrification

Meanwhile, the Ford government reiterated previous commitments to spend $61 billion on public transit over the next 10 years.

The document referenced ongoing construction work for the Ontario Line, the Eglinton Crosstown West extension, the Yonge North subway extension and the Scarborough subway extension – all initiatives started under the Ford government and all discussed in one form or another over the past decade.

Another part of the Toronto transit plan put forward is extending the Sheppard subway line east to McCowan road to meet up with the Scarborough subway extension. There was a commitment to “advancing planning work” on it, but definitive funding or timelines weren’t included.

Revamping GO Transit’s rail network, parts of the plan which predated the Ford government, was mentioned. The Ford government recently completed tendering on the first phase of electrifying it and dramatically boosting service in many areas. There are references to extending service into Bowmanville and in the Niagara region, but specifics on both were missing from the Ontario budget document. There was also a nod to boosting GO train service to London after a pilot project was launched in 2021.

As for when the final funding will be locked in, it’s still unclear. The Ontario election is currently scheduled for June 2 and officials confirmed the budget will not be passed by the governing PCs before the legislature is dissolved in the coming days. However, a spokesperson for Premier Doug Ford said the 2022 Ontario budget will be tabled should the government return for a second term.