Highway 427 extension in Vaughan set to open Sept. 18 amid ongoing legal battle

Months after it was reported there were legal issues surrounding the opening of the Highway 427 extension in Vaughan, officials have announced motorists will be able to use the new 6.6-kilometre section as of Saturday.

Highway 427 currently runs between the Queen Elizabeth Way in Toronto and Highway 7 in Vaughan, but beginning at around 7 a.m. the new northern endpoint will be at Major MacKenzie Drive just north of Huntington Road and east of Highway 50 and the CP Rail intermodal facility.

The $616-million highway extension will see new interchanges at Langstaff Road, Rutherford Road, and Major MacKenzie Drive.

Also, as part of the project, the existing section of Highway 427 between Finch Avenue West and Highway 7 was expanded to eight lanes in conjunction with a new interchange at Highway 7.

A high-occupancy vehicle lane will be added on parts of the highway north of Highway 409.

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Construction on the project, which was first announced by the previous provincial Liberal government in 2013, began in 2017.

However, according to documents from April obtained by Global News in May, the provincial government alleged the builders didn’t make it safe enough and the group of contractors, known as Link427, alleged the government changed the rules during the project, forcing the matter to court. The claims made in the lawsuit haven’t been ruled on.

When asked for an update on the legal action, a spokesperson for Ontario Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney said the case is still before the court and that she wasn’t able to immediately provide an update on the various issues raised as part of the legal action. However, the spokesperson said the safety-specific concerns were addressed.

A representative for Link427, the consortium of companies responsible for building and maintaining the Highway 427 extension, declined to comment on Thursday when asked for an update.