Ontario's controversial new bypass officially dubbed Highway 425

Ontario has officially revealed the name of its controversial Bradford Bypass project, as construction gets underway on the forthcoming route connecting Highway 400 and Highway 404.

On Thursday, the province announced that the Bradford Bypass will officially be designated as Highway 425. At the same time, the provincial government revealed that construction had kicked off on the long-awaited highway, which is set to minimize traffic and result in shorter travel times across York Region and Simcoe County by up to 35 minutes.

"With major construction underway on the Bradford Bypass, we've reached a historic milestone in our plan to give relief to commuters from some of the most congested highways in North America," said Premier Doug Ford.

"We will continue to invest in our $236 billion plan to build, including the Bradford Bypass, Highway 413 and the 401 tunnel, saving drivers and businesses across Ontario time and money."

According to the province, construction crews have already broken ground on the west section of the Bradford Bypass at Sideroad 10. The work here involves building interchanges at Sideroad 10 and County Road 4, “replacing the bridge at Highway 400 and Line 9 and adding a new freeway-to-freeway interchange connecting the Bradford Bypass to Highway 400.”

Construction of the new highway is anticipated to support over 2,000 jobs each year and contribute up to $286 million to Ontario's GDP.

Once open, the four-lane, 16.3-kilometre highway will run from Highway 400 in the west to Highway 404 in the east.

The province says the highway aims to address population growth and increased traffic in the region, as York Region's population is expected to reach 1.8 million by 2041, and Simcoe County's population is expected to hit 416,000 in the next five years.