CaDCR staff writer
Ontario PremieDoug Ford says building a 50-kilometre tunnel, one of the longest in the world, under Highway 401 would relieve gridlock for the Greater Toronto Area.
Ford announced the plan to complete a feasibility study for the project at a news conference on Wednesday.
Construction industry leaders are supporting the plan.
Highway 401 tunnel a ‘visionary plan’ to relieve gridlock in GTA
“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.
No cost estimates or timeline was provided for the project.
“This is something we are going to get done,” Ford said, noting LiUNA has a training centre for tunnel construction training. “We have the skillset. We have the skilled trades right here ready to go. We have great unions like LiUNA and the carpenters and the plumbers and everyone else that is excited about this project.
“We’re tunneling experts now. We’ve tunnelled kilometres and kilometres of subways.”
The 401 tunnel could stretch from Mississauga, Ont., in the west to Markham in the east.
Calling it a visionary project, the premier said the new infrastructure would last decades.
“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.”
Opposition parties were quick to criticize the 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.”
Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie called the tunnel a “pipe dream” and said money would be better spent elsewhere.
“This is not a relief to congestion today by any stretch, this money would be better invested in public transit, which could be built far faster,” she said.
However, along with construction industry leaders, 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.”
