The Ford government is setting its sights on building its signature Highway 413 project next year, with plans for the controversial route to begin construction in 2025.
In a muddy field in Caledon, Ont., along the route of the proposed highway on Tuesday morning, Ontario Premier Doug Ford and construction leaders promised the route would not be the last new major road.
“We are delivering on our promise to build Highway 413 with a plan to fix gridlock and get drivers across Halton, Peel and York regions where they need to go faster,” Ford said.
The 52-kilometre highway is set to run from Milton to Vaughan, cutting through Peel Region and the edge of the Greenbelt. It has been a signature Ford government policy and a lightning rod for opposition, particularly among environmental groups.
The province said it is currently doing fieldwork on the project, which includes borehole drilling, soil evaluations and bedrock studies. Land expropriations are expected to follow this year, with the province getting landowners along the route to sell.
The province estimates the construction work will generate $350 million for the province’s real GDP and add 3,500 jobs every year. It has not announced how much the route will cost taxpayers.
The Ford government said it was working to release the first early works construction contracts for the project.
Work on the road was recently allowed to begin again after a three-year pause implemented when the federal government designated the highway under its Impact Assessment Act, citing concerns about local species.
That freeze ended in mid-April when a federal judge ratified an agreement between Ottawa and Queen’s Park. Instead of a rigorous and lengthy federal assessment through the Impact Assessment Act — which a Supreme Court opinion suggested was unconstitutional — a working group between the two governments will study the route.
In the meantime, Ontario is moving full steam ahead with its plan to build the road, promising to get construction work started next year.
At the announcement on Tuesday, a series of speakers pledged that Highway 413 would be the first of many new provincial roads.
“I had the pleasure of working on the first phase of the 407 and when they built that highway, that was supposed to fix all the traffic problems around the Toronto area and the GTA, it didn’t, and now moving on to the 413,” Jack Oliveira, business manager of the union local LiUNA 183, said.
“I’m sure that once the 413 gets going, we’ll be thinking about the next project, which will be a new highway somewhere.”
Joseph Mancinelli, also from LiUNA, echoed the comments, while the premier confirmed he planned to build more.
“This is not the end of it. We are going to continue building highways and roads,” Ford added.
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