Ford announces plan to explore building tunnel under Highway 401

Ontario Premier Doug Ford says his government is examining the feasibility of a tunnel beneath Highway 401 that would serve as a new expressway, aiming to ease gridlock and traffic concerns.

Ford made the announcement at a press conference on Wednesday morning. The costs for the project and a timeline were not made clear.

The province notes that it’s launched a “technical evaluation” to explore how the expressway can provide a “new, faster route” for some roadways north of Toronto, extending beyond Brampton and Mississauga to Markham and Scarborough.

Premier Ford said the project is aimed to significantly reduce traffic in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA).

“Ontario’s gridlock problem is leaving the average Toronto-area commuter stuck in traffic for 98 hours every year, taking up precious time that would be better spent with family, friends and loved ones and is costing our economy $11 billion every year in the GTHA alone,” said Premier Ford.

The Premier said the tunnelling would go smoother than Boston’s infamous “big dig,” which was beset by delays and massive cost overruns. That project took 25 years to complete and cost at least $8 billion.

“That’s not going to happen here,” Ford said. “We’re experts at tunnelling.”

The closest Ford came to providing a cost estimate Wednesday was that he doesn’t think the project would cost “hundreds of billions of dollars.” 

The closest he came to putting a timeline on the project was that it will be in place by the time he’s long gone.

“Well after we’re gone, well after, you know, when I’m pushing up tulips somewhere, that road is going to be around for 75 years, 100 years, the tunnel,” he said. “So just put a tulip for me on there somewhere.”

Officials will explore options to increase Hwy. 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.

Ontario will begin consultations with First Nations communities about the potential expressway project.

Ford, Crombie go back and forth

Ontario Liberal Party Leader Bonnie Crombie was quick to follow up Ford’s announcement by criticizing the Premier’s plans for Hwy. 401, saying, “Ontario needs real solutions.”

“The real question today is which of Doug’s rich buddies would benefit from this? Who has he made promises to?” Crombie wrote on X.

Premier Ford wrote, in part, “It took Bonnie minutes to confirm what I already knew. She opposes building a tunnel under the 401, and she’ll cancel Highway 413.”

“Bonnie will always say no. We’re saying yes to building and yes to getting drivers out of traffic,” the Premier’s post read.

The other opposition parties pounced on the tunnel proposal.

“The premier cannot dig himself out of the mess that he has created in our province, not even with a fantasy tunnel,” said NDP Leader Marit Stiles. 

“This is a serious issue — gridlock, congestion — but this is not a serious proposal. This is not a serious premier. It is a silly thought from a government that has run out of ideas.”

Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner did not mince words.

“The idea that this would ever get built under this (government), let alone be good for traffic at all, is a complete joke,” he wrote on social media.

“The premier cares more about building a home for cars than he does about building homes for people.”

The Toronto Region Board of Trade applauded the province’s plan.

“We need big and bold ideas, and a transit line under the 401 is exactly the kind of visionary thinking governments should pursue,” it said. “The Highway 401 tunnel expressway feasibility study marks a pivotal moment in addressing the GTHA’s deepening congestion crisis.”

Several organizations in the construction industry also welcomed the news.

“This will boost thousands of construction jobs for LiUNA members and skilled trades workers while building resilient infrastructure to meet the growth, connectivity and, if feasible, provide innovative solutions to our transit infrastructure,” said Victoria Mancinelli, a spokeswoman for the Labourers’ International Union of North America, Canada, which represents about 70,000 construction workers in Ontario.

Premier Ford confirmed on Wednesday that the new expressway beneath Hwy. 401 would not be tolled.

“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,” added Premier Ford.

Fieldwork has already begun on Hwy. 413, the proposed 52-kilometre highway that will run west from Hwy. 400 in Vaughan through Peel Region and southwest to Hwy. 401 in Milton.

The federal government had marked the Hwy. 413 project for a federal review under its powers in the Impact Assessment Act. 

Files from The Canadian Press were used in this report