TORONTO, Ont. — Toronto City councilor Paul Sutherland is proposing adding four toll lanes to the Don Valley Parkway, which links the city core with Hwy. 401.

Sutherland, who represents the city ward for Don Valley East, says a preliminary engineering report shows two toll lanes in each direction could be added.

The north-south parkway, or Hwy. 404 where it extends south of Hwy. 401, is 12.8 km long. It carries about 160,000 vehicles a day and features 27 bridges and overpasses — so widening the highway would me essentially rebuilding all that infrastructure.

It is the main artery into the core from the east side of the city, he adds.

“Below that you might narrow it (to a single lane in each direction) because the capacity south of there isn’t as bad,” he says. “If you find you need the capacity all the way down, then you get into the roadwork on bridges which is where the (major) costs come into play.”

The idea will face tough opposition, mind you, if it is ever to reach the implementation phase.

“The last thing we need is additional road capacity to be added to the freeway infrastructure in Toronto,” says Michael Roschlau, president and chief executive officer of the Canadian Urban Transit Association. “It will simply encourage more people to drive downtown and increase the congestion.”