October 2024
Re: 401 tunnel study must not be an afterthought (Jay Goldberg, Toronto Sun, 5 October): While the proposed Highway 401 tunnel may be an obnoxiously expensive project for our already heavily-indebted province, one that has already shown itself unable to keep budgets and timelines in order, Premier Doug Ford’s tunnel idea could work. I would stipulate that the tunnel should be an express route, exclusively for traffic transiting through Toronto, not within it. Instead of having express and collector lane system that we currently have on the surface, turn the tunnel into the express lanes and leave the surface lanes for collector lanes that access the exit ramps to city streets.
Along the tunnel route, there should be entrance ramps into the tunnel so that you can access it regardless of whether your starting point is Scarborough or Yonge Street. There would be no exit ramps, thus (theoretically) providing savings in construction and maintenance, with a traffic control system to enable the entrance ramps to function as emergency exits, if needed.
Neither the tunnel, nor my suggestion, would be the final solution to Highway 401’s congestion issues, but it could be better than the status quo. The Ontario government buying back Highway 407 and removing the tolls could also be a part of the solution, but don’t discount the possibility that a tunnel could work in conjunction, especially with predictions that an un-tolled Highway 407 could be just as congested as the 401 is currently in around 20 years. It’s a bit of a double-edged sword, in that having tolls on Highway 407 is one of the reasons it’s not heavily congested already.
As well, let’s remember that money for road maintenance of the highway has to come from somewhere. While I certainly like that I don’t have to pay tolls on other roads, I’m well aware that the maintenance bill for all other roads is paid by the taxpayer. Like our “free healthcare,” nothing is really free, and the money has to come from somewhere.
On the subject of toll roads, I’m not categorically against them; I’m just against the excessively high tolls. Anyone who has driven both Highway 407 and the New York State Thruway knows the shockingly high disparity between the toll charges between the two highways. Spoiler alert: Highway 407 charges around ten times more for the same distance travelled on the N.Y. State thruway! It might be useful to find out how is it that N.Y. State can operate their highway for so much less. Maybe the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board subsidiary, CPP Investments, can use their 50.01% ownership stake in Highway 407 to influence lower tolls, at least until Ford’s government makes a decision.
PP.S. How many people know that, along with the 6.76% ownership stake by AtkinsRéalis Canada, formerly known as SNC-Lavalin, Canadian companies own 56.77% of the highway? I still hear people referring to the 407 as an exclusively “foreign-owned highway.”
Sources: 407 Tolls – Comparisons for consideration : r/toronto (reddit.com), GOLDBERG: Hwy. 401 tunnel study must not be an afterthought | Toronto Sun, Should Ontario buy back Hwy. 407 to solve traffic problems? (insidehalton.com), Investors | 407 ETR, Express Toll Route, LETTER: Hwy. 401 tunnel plan ‘ridiculous, solves nothing’ – Barrie News (barrietoday.com).