Buy back the 407? Maybe but even that won’t solve gridlock

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Buy back the 407?

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Maybe, says Doug Ford. But Ontario’s premier says that’s just one of many options he’s looking at to deal with gridlock in the Greater Toronto Area.

Ford was musing about the 407 while fielding questions about his idea to build a car and transit tunnel under the jam-packed 401.

“Well, let’s look at the feasibility study first. You know, let’s see what they have to say. Let’s look at the 407 as well. All options are on the table,” Ford said.

Ford’s tunnel idea was mocked and dismissed out of hand by the opposition parties and much of the media as soon as he mentioned the idea. They called the tunnel idea unrealistic, a pipe dream and too expensive before the idea has even been studied.

Each and every opposition party at Queen’s Park – and it’s hard to tell the NDP, Liberals and Greens apart because they all sound the same – said that what is really needed is more public transit.

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There are two problems with this. The Ford government is already undertaking a massive public transit expansion with a new subway line in Toronto as well as subway extensions in the north of the city. This is on top of new LRT projects in Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton and Hamilton.

Then there is the GO Train and bus expansion.

The reality is the Ford government is expanding public transit in a big way, but it cannot be and will never be the only answer despite being the go-to for the opposition. It’s also not the option that the majority of residents want — most want traffic to get moving and transit isn’t at the top of the list.

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A recent poll of Toronto residents by Maru Public Opinion found the most popular solution to deal with gridlock was a call for the city to “better coordinate different construction projects going on at the same time.” That option was supported by 39% of residents while “better signal timing and more traffic agents was supported by 36% and increasing transit was backed by just 18%.

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As stated, transit is expanding but our road system is not.

On the island of Montreal there are two east-west highways — the 20 and the 40 — while the 13, 15 and 25 run north-south. The areas around Montreal, be it Laval or the South Shore, all have their own highways to keep traffic moving as well.

In Toronto, there is the 401, and that’s the only cross city highway that compares to what Montreal has, a city with a much smaller population.

The 407 could be bought back and made toll free, but as Ford and government officials have shown that the highway will be at capacity within 10 years or so. The idea of the province subsidizing trucks to leave the 401 and take the Highway 407 toll road has been described as “impractical” by the Ontario Trucking Alliance.

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Beyond the fact that this highway will also soon be full, it is also a highway that requires entering from or exiting to the 401 at current choke points. This is not the long-term solution proponents think it is.

On Wednesday, Ford addressed the idea that the province should build over the 401 instead of tunnelling.

“You’d have to shut down the 401 totally if you did, if you built on top of it. The maintenance would be a nightmare,” Ford said pointing to the dilapidated Gardiner Expressway.

Something must be done to ease gridlock and simply refusing to build more highways while invoking questionable theories highway opponents point do like induced demand simply won’t cut it. Ontario is a growing province, the GTA is a growing region, and that requires more roads and highways.

“Never, ever stop building,” Ford said.

Previous governments took a different view and now we are dealing with the consequences. Perhaps Ford’s tunnel isn’t the right solution, but at least the premier is thinking about solutions to a very real problem.

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