The Ford authorities is formally transferring ahead with a proper feasibility examine for a tunnelled expressway beneath Freeway 401, issuing a name for firms to analyze the viability of the plan.
On Monday afternoon, the federal government posted a request for proposals for firms to undertake a two-year feasibility examine for a tunnelled freeway route from Mississauga to only east of Scarborough.
The plan was first floated by Premier Doug Ford in September 2024, when he promised the uncosted mega venture would assist alleviate ever-worsening congestion on Freeway 401.
On the time, Ford stated the feasibility examine would decide choices like the ultimate dimension and scope of the venture, however that he deliberate to construct it — regardless of the analysis work concluded.
It has taken six months since that announcement to submit the request for proposals for the feasibility examine. Public paperwork recommend that the profitable bidder will likely be anticipated to complete the examine by the tip of February 2027.
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It isn’t clear how lengthy the federal government would then take to digest the outcomes of that examine or work on planning the route itself. A timeline for building or the general finances has additionally not been determined.
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Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria stated posting the tunnelling feasibility contract was a serious milestone.
“The discharge of the RFP for the 401 tunnel is a major step ahead in our authorities’s plan to combat gridlock and hold our roads transferring,” he stated in a press release.
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An inner doc, beforehand seen by International Information, outlined a few of the necessities and plans for the feasibility examine.
In January, the Ford authorities was on the lookout for:
Evaluation of a tunnelling choice so as to add car and transit capacityConsideration of different infrastructure choices, together with elevated highways and adjoining routingHigh-level value estimates and financial analysisDesign, environmental and building issues
The inner authorities presentation states that whereas there are “few alternatives to develop freeway capability with out enterprise main tunnel or fly-over infrastructure choices,” the feasibility examine may even take a look at different routes and different modes of journey.
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Companies are being requested to conduct a complete evaluation of “different car and transit capability choices,” and to additionally determine different “complementary congestion aid choices.”
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International Information understands some modifications had been made to the plan for the feasibility plan between January and the RFP being posted on Monday.
Whereas work will quickly be underway on the feasibility examine, the thought of a tunnel underneath Freeway 401 was not new when it was unveiled final yr.
For years, Canadian building agency Aecon has been buying the suggestion of a tunnel expressway to political leaders, International Information beforehand revealed.
First, in 2015, a tunnel from Freeway 427 to the Don Valley Parkway was pitched to town of Toronto, then the identical thought was floated to the Ontario Liberal authorities. Later, in 2019, Aecon made the same proposal to the Ford authorities as an unsolicited proposal with a price ticket of round $50 to $60 billion.
The thought lay dormant for a while till it was formally unveiled and backed on the finish of final summer time.
The promise was a part of the Progressive Conservatives’ pitch through the February snap election, during which they gained a majority.
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