How subsidizing trucks to use the 407 could cost Ontario less than building Highway 413
CBC
Calls are growing for Premier Doug Ford's government to reduce traffic congestion by encouraging more drivers to use the 407 ETR toll highway, rather than spending billions of dollars to build the proposed Highway 413.
The 413 would run for 60 kilometres across the northwestern part of the Greater Toronto Area and through the Greenbelt. The proposal has become a lightning rod for environmental groups who say the highway will contribute to sprawl, and all three opposition parties say they would cancel the plan if Ford's PCs are defeated in the June election.
Opponents of Highway 413 see the 407 as an underused alternative, with great potential to lure traffic from the busiest highway in Canada, the 401.
The advocacy group Transport Action Ontario is floating the idea that the provincial government should in effect make it free for transport trucks to use the 407 by paying the cost of their tolls.
The group argues this would be a cheaper solution for the government than building and operating Highway 413 and would do more to solve the GTA's congestion problems right now.
"Right now, most truckers use the 401 because they find the tolls [on the 407] prohibitive," said Peter Miasek, president of Transport Action Ontario.
"It strikes us [that] the 407 is the perfect alternative because it's uncongested at this time."
Using data from provincial traffic studies and the company that owns 407 ETR, the group estimates such a move would get between 12,000 and 21,000 trucks using the toll highway each weekday.
It calculates that a full toll subsidy for that many trucks over a 30-year period would add up to the equivalent of $4 billion in today's dollars.
The Ford government is not saying how much Highway 413 will cost, but an estimate by the previous government several years ago put it at $6 billion. Independent analysts have pegged the current cost in the range of $8-to-$10 billion.
Negotiating such a deal with the company that owns 407 ER would "require a little creativity and some pressure" from the provincial government, says Toby Heaps, the chief executive of Corporate Knights, a business research and media firm based in Toronto.
"There's definitely room for a deal to be done, given that the 407 is relatively empty and there's a lot of big trucks who would love to get on there," said Heaps, one of the entrepreneurs who signed a new open letter to the Ford government calling for a halt to Highway 413.
Others in the corporate world insist that Highway 413 is needed to tackle the growth in traffic in the GTA and they see a toll subsidy on the 407 as an inadequate solution.
"It is not a realistic option," said Nadia Todorova, executive director of the Residential and Civil Construction Alliance of Ontario.
Heavy snowfall is set to continue in the London region through Sunday, with some areas expected to receive upwards of 40 centimetres in total by the time the system moves out.
A staple of Water Street is closing its doors in downtown St. John's.
Cool temperatures and sufficient snowfall have combined to helped some Maritime ski hills add a few extra days of business to this year's season.
A Winnipeg-based rabbi says the local Jewish community must stand together in the wake of a deadly attack on a Hanukkah celebration in Australia on Sunday.
More than half of Alberta adults say they would support eliminating provincial funding for private schools if the issue went to a referendum, a recent survey suggests.
The receding of floodwaters in Abbotsford, B.C., has led officials to reopen Highway 1 and downgrade some evacuation orders, though more rain is expected across the Fraser Valley and other parts of the province.
When she flew home to Edmonton from Mexico this month, Mahala Swisterski says she and her husband breathed a sigh of relief as they boarded the plane.
Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc says the door is open for American officials to restart trade talks with Canada, but the next time for direct engagement on trade will likely be when the North American free trade agreement begins its review process next month.
A winter storm rolling through the Maritimes is expected to impact much of P.E.I. on Sunday, with the system continuing to bring snow and blustery conditions into Monday.
Calgary police say they will have an increased presence at the city's official menorah lighting ceremony Monday, after at least 15 people were killed in an attack at a Hanukkah event at Sydney's Bondi Beach. "The Calgary Police Service has increased patrols around synagogues and at local Hanukkah events, including at tomorrow's menorah lighting at city hall," a police statement said.
A new study suggests that a colony of sea birds nesting on Cape Parry in the N.W.T. could face increasing threats related to increased Arctic shipping traffic and environmental change.
Albertans — predominantly members of the South Asian community — gathered at the Venice Banquet Hall in northeast Calgary for a town hall Saturday to address concerns around extortion and crime, with provincial and federal elected officials in attendance.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says his party's focus on affordability "is what unites all Conservatives," as the Tories grapple with another MP crossing the floor to join the Liberals — bringing them one seat shy of forming a majority government.