Ford government takes ‘significant step’ forward with 401 tunnel plan: Transportation Minister

The province of Ontario has taken what Minister of Transportation Prabmeet Sarkaria called “a significant step forward” in its plans to construct a tunnel under Highway 401, issuing a request for proposal (RFP) for a feasibility and congestion relief study.

The study is expected to cost millions of dollars and take up to two years to complete, but Sarkaria said it was a crucial step in bringing the idea, which some find far-fetched, to fruition.

“The release of the RFP for the 401 tunnel is a significant step forward in our government’s plan to fight gridlock and keep our roads moving,” Sarkaria said in a release Monday.

“Gridlock costs our economy over $56 billion dollars each year, and we need to continue to build and explore innovative solutions as Ontario continues to grow at an unprecedented speed.”

The plan touted by Premier Doug Ford, would see a tunnel built under a 50-kilometre stretch of the 401 from west of Highway 410 in Mississauga, to east of Scarborough.

One expert has pegged the cost of such at project at around $55 billion, and said it would take 20 years to construct, creating more congestion on the already-clogged highway during those two decades.

Despite those who question the wisdom of the project, Ford has remained steadfast that it’s a good idea, saying it would create thousands of jobs, stimulate the economy, and ease congestion in the long-run.

“Once finished the 401 tunnel will unlock billions in economic growth and make our province’s economy more competitive,” Ford said last February.

“It will be one of the largest and most ambitious infrastructure projects in the entire world,” he said.

“The most important thing is to get the environmental studies done, to get the engineering plans and the design done and then we can start digging. By that time we’ll be able to have a firm cost,” he said at the time.

Among the most vocal detractors are Toronto city councillor Josh Matlow, who called the idea “truly bonkers.”

“Doug Ford is going waste billions of tax dollars and create construction chaos along the 401 corridor for years, all while jamming even more congestion into an expensive tunnel. I wish he’d focus on completing the transit projects we’re still waiting for,” he wrote on X, referring to the long-delayed Eglinton LRT.

The Toronto Region Board of Trade, on the other hand, applauded the Ford government for its “visionary thinking” in a social media post.

“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 last September. “The Highway 401 tunnel expressway feasibility study marks a pivotal moment in addressing the GTHA’s deepening congestion crisis.”