Ontario may still re-acquire 407 ETR to fix gridlock

Premier Doug Ford has assured Ontario residents that "anything and everything is on the table" when it comes to solving the GTA's torturous traffic woes, from his contentious (and perhaps impossible) 401 tunnel idea to reclaiming ownership of the 407 ETR.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Ontario's leader said that the provincial government is indeed contemplating either buying back the 407 or paying for trucks shipping goods to utilize it as an alternative to more gridlocked routes, saying "we'll do the feasibility study [for the tunnel], we'll look at the 407... we own about 22 kilometres on the far end and there are other opportunities along the 407."

He noted that taxpayers collectively dole out more than $1.4 billion each year to use the roadway, which is not nearly as packed as other arteries because of its fees — fees that go to indirectly owned subsidiaries of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Spain-based Cintra Global S.E., and AtkinsRéalis Canada Inc., who comprise the 407 ETR Concession Company Limited.

Though acquiring the thoroughfare back for taxpayers is not out of the question — and is an idea that many see as far more realistic than Ford's wild subterranean underpass proposal — it would most likely be in conjunction with something like the tunnel, Ford says.

"We basically have one route going east and west, and the region is growing so quickly, it's pretty much at capacity now. But the 407 will be at capacity in the next 20 years or so, so we've got to think down the road 20, 30, 40 years and build something that will last."

The expressway spans 151 km across the Toronto area, from Burlington to Clarington, in two sections. The first portion, formally the 407 ETR, is 108 km long and is owned by the aforementioned private consortium. The provincial government holds the smaller second chunk, referred to as just Highway 407.