[nfitz]

Has the Ford government done a study yet to see if it would be cheaper to remove tolls off of the 407?

It would be cheaper to do nothing. But certainly paying out the consortium to remove tolls would be cheaper.

But it would only increase congestion on the 401, not decrease it. 407 is near capacity now. If it became free, it too would become a parking lot. And there'd be less throughput at peak than now.

Which result in the time saving so many vanishing, who'd then move to the 401.

You don't increase usage by turning a road into a parking lot. You need to get to about 90 km/hr or so speed. Below that, you are just seeing less volume, and more congestion.

 

[afransen]

The Ford government should tunnel this stretch of the 401 before committing to tunneling the entire length of the 401 in Toronto.

Has the Ford government done a study yet to see if it would be cheaper to remove tolls off of the 407? Or construct the freight bypasses and allow for improved GO service along the Kitchener, Milton and Midtown lines?

I can't believe this is moving forward. And I say this as someone who commutes to work by car on a daily basis.

Ford will probably be pushing daisies before any stretch of tunnel gets built.

 

[JJTheJetPln]

RFP for a feasibility study being issued:

Ford government takes 'significant step' forward with 401 tunnel plan: Transportation Minister

The province of Ontario has taken what Minister of Transportation Prabmeet Sarkaria called “a significant step forward” in its plans to construct a tunnel under Highway 401, issuing a request for proposal (RFP) for a feasibility and congestion relief study. The study is expected to cost millions...

toronto.citynews.ca

I'd rather just take the money and say "no"

 

[SashaLemon]

I'd rather just take the money and say "no"

They should hire this guy.

https://www.goldennumber.net/wp-content/uploads/pepsi-arnell-021109.pdf

 

[Civdis]

Don't know if this has been mentioned before, but if we are going to build a new road tunnel, it should be to extend either the 400 or Allen Expressway downtown.

 

[leopetr]

We should be demolishing the Allen and Black Creek Drive, not extending them. They serve no purpose and there's no room downstream for more cars.

 

[ARG1]

Don't know if this has been mentioned before, but if we are going to build a new road tunnel, it should be to extend either the 400 or Allen Expressway downtown.

Whilst I'm not 100% on board with such an idea, at the very least it could be said that this does at least carry some logic. Road tunneling being used to build highways in new areas where its too environmentally damaging to build surface highways is significantly preferable over building one under an existing highway.

 

[RapidTransit]

Don't know if this has been mentioned before, but if we are going to build a new road tunnel, it should be to extend either the 400 or Allen Expressway downtown.

Don't know if this has been mentioned before, but if we are going to build a new road tunnel, it should be to extend either the 400 or Allen Expressway downtown.

Agreed. The west end traffic is insane. And there's no DVP equivalent to get ppl in and out the core to go north. The 427 is too far west for it to be an alternative.

I would say the tunnel should be a southern extension of the 400/Black Creek. At least that way you can get to Barrie almost directly.

I recall a mayoral candidate in 2010 proposing this, but his name slips my mind.
Obviously any highway ideas won't be popular on UT, but for the sake of goods and services and growing population, it's necessary.

Transit and cycling will never be able to help everyone. And not everyone can easily move closer to where they worked. That's just the reality.

I do like the boldness off Doug Ford to propose some kind of highway within Toronto. I just wish it was a more effective highway proposal than a tunnel.

 

[rdaner]

^I think this idea is absurd but will say:
•the reason to expand the 401 is because it serves several purposes such as a commuter route, a national highway and for the trucking industry.
•in Asia they do this by decking
•if they end up tunnelling I wonder if it will be tolled and what else can go there such as power lines, gas lines, etc.
•another solution is to continue the trend of ending concentration in the CBD and further develop nodes.

 

[crs1026]

Building a tunnel is a foolish idea if there is no accompanying strategy for managing congestion.

Sadly, while Ford is happy to commit billions and billions to build this thing, he is averse to discussing other measures, especially those related to price signals such as tolling or congestion charging. Even buying back the 407 for use as an untolled bypass would be cheaper.

This is not only bad economics (a saner government would be more concerned with finding revenue to fund the damn thing) but incredibly non-conservative in approach. (Since when do conservatives favour borrowing over funding from revenue?).

Sadly, I suspect Ford may have the voter on his side. Offering tax cuts and sticking one's head in the sand around densification seems to fly politically.

We have seen the enemy, and it is us, the public.

- Paul

 

[Towered]

•another solution is to continue the trend of ending concentration in the CBD and further develop nodes.

This was attempted in the 80's and 90's and utterly failed. It's all about downtown, as it should be.

 

[ARG1]

This was attempted in the 80's and 90's and utterly failed. It's all about downtown, as it should be.

This ^

The fundamental problem is that Union Station is located downtown, making it one of the most accessible parts the GTA. Any idea of pushing the CBD north or closer to the 401 would be a CBD that is only really accessible to other Toronto residents, not the GTA as a whole (also frankly the last thing we need is to push more demand on the 401).

 

[innsertnamehere]

This ^

The fundamental problem is that Union Station is located downtown, making it one of the most accessible parts the GTA. Any idea of pushing the CBD north or closer to the 401 would be a CBD that is only really accessible to other Toronto residents, not the GTA as a whole (also frankly the last thing we need is to push more demand on the 401).

Yes.

Focusing office employment downtown is also the easiest way to support transit use. dispersing employment across the GTA makes it difficult for transit to support it.

 

[Sunnyside]

Tbf, didn’t employment diffuse as planned, only it went to the 905 instead of the outer 416? That’s notwithstanding that ECC and NYCC have fair shares of employment themselves, alongside the Sheppard-Consumers node.

 

[11th]

This was attempted in the 80's and 90's and utterly failed. It's all about downtown, as it should be.

It failed largely because of the recession, and then amalgamation.