Clarington asks Ontario to make Hwy. 407 toll-free for trucks

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Clarington — a municipality Durham Region, east of Toronto — wants Ontario to make Highway 407 a toll-free route for trucks hauling aggregates through its jurisdiction.

 “Let’s get these heavy trucks off our rural roads. The disruption they cause to our residents and, quite frankly, the destruction of our local roads is unreasonable. These big, heavy trucks want to get from point A to point B as quickly as possible, so Highway 407 makes all the sense in the world,” Clarington Mayor Adrian Foster said in a news release.

(Photo: istock)

The municipality said it does not wish to restrict commercial traffic to specific roads or times but needs to protect the safety of local residents in these neighbourhoods. The Ontario government is prioritizing new housing development in the region and the trucks are delivering construction materials to sites west of the municipality.

At a meeting last month, town council approved a resolution from Coun. Granville Anderson requesting that the province “make an alternate route available, namely the 407, as free to use for trucks carrying aggregates in North Durham for the period of one year.”

“We have to be mindful that it affects quality of life.”

Granville Anderson, Clarington councillor

Anderson told TruckNews.com that he is not against commerce and did not want to ban trucks. “We have to be mindful that it affects quality of life,” he said.

After residents complained about trucks using Concession Road 6, council banned trucks on Concession Roads 6 and 7 between Townline Road and Bowmanville Avenue in April 2022.

Anderson said the trucks instead moved onto Enniskillen, which is Regional Road 3.

Delay start times

“The problem was sent to another community, which isn’t an answer. Ideally the 407 is not being used, that would be the best route for them to go on,” he said. “They wouldn’t be disturbing anybody. But the province will have to agree to play ball, I don’t know if they will. But nothing tried, nothing done.”

The councillor said the residents of Enniskillen “are pretty reasonable folks” but it would help if hours are restricted. “The trucks start rolling at 5 a.m. and it is disruptive. Delay the truck traffic a couple of hours, maybe start at 7 a.m.”

“Perhaps they could start late on Saturdays and let people rest,” Anderson added.

Last year, Ontario officially removed all tolls from highways 412 and 418, a pair of north-south routes that connect Highway 401 and the tolled Highway 407 just east of Toronto.

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Leo Barros is the associate editor of Today’s Trucking. He has been a journalist for more than two decades, holds a CDL and has worked as a longhaul truck driver. Reach him at leo@newcom.ca


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  • It should have been sold off can we limit the tolls to 10cents /km/ axle for heavy trucks and 12 cents / km for cars and light trucks under 4500 kg. We also need to toll many roads including to 401and 427 between 700 hrs and 1900 hrs with half those tolls going to transit and 25 % goung ti roads and 25% going to house and provide medical care and temp housing to disabled and homeless including truck drivers and temp parking for those drivers that are disabled or use med equipment like cpap machine or oxegen gereators

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  • Ran the 407 from Burlington to Hurontario Street. It was a pleasure to drive there at 5:00PM compared to taking the QEW and 403 to Mississauga.

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  • Tolls were supposed to end 2025 according to the original schedule until Mike Harris and his PC party sold it to private interests (i.e. their drinking buddies). Niw it’s a permanent toll road with the highest tolls in North America. And the taxpayers are total suckers not making any revenue which is leaving the country in huge bags, likely tax free.

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