How a Hwy. 401 tunnel went from private proposal to government policy [Video]

Long before Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced plans to burrow a tunnel under Highway 401, a Canadian construction firm with a history of successful public infrastructure projects submitted a proposal to the Ontario government to build a tunnel of similar size and scope.

Global News has learned that in 2019, Canadian construction firm Aecon Group submitted an unsolicited proposal to the Ministry of Infrastructure pitching an idea to help relieve traffic on the heavily congested highway: an express tunnel under the 401 stretching from Highway 427 to Highway 404, with a possible connection to Pearson International airport.

Multiple sources said the idea caught the imagination of Premier Ford and was batted around behind the scenes inside his government for years. It only became a reality in late 2024, as the premier worked to frame the context for a possible early election.

In September, Ford announced his government would conduct a feasibility …