As Doug Ford’s Ontario government considers building a tunnel under Highway 401, the provincial Green Party and an advocacy group say there’s a far more obvious solution to tackling Toronto’s gridlock: making better use of the express toll route 407.
Ford says an underground expressway beneath the 401 would ease gridlock on the congested Greater Toronto Area highway by expanding its capacity for drivers and transit. The tunnel could run roughly 55 kilometres, would not be tolled and would include public transit, the province has said.
Ford didn’t provide a cost estimate for the tunnel, but said Wednesday that he doesn’t think the project would cost “hundreds of billions of dollars.”
The premier said that the tunnel is a “serious plan to get drivers out of gridlock.” But Ontario Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner says there are quicker, cheaper and more effective alternatives, like getting more truckers off the 401 and onto the privately owned 407 by subsidizing their tolls.
“We’ve …