Ontario government gets ball rolling for Hwy 407 expansion
TORONTO, Ont. — Infrastructure Ontario has released a request for qualifications (RFQ) to extend toll route Highway 407 eastward from Brock Road in Pickering to Simcoe Street in Oshawa and provide a new link east of Lakeridge Road, from Highway 407 East to Highway 401. The RFQ is the first step in the process to select a team to design, construct and maintain the new Highway 407 East extension. Request for proposals are expected to be sent to short-listed teams later this year.
The Ontario Trucking Association (OTA) says that the extension of Highway 407 eastwards makes sense in terms of the long-term economic prospects for the province, especially given Oshawa’s strategic role in the automotive manufacturing industry. OTA president, David Bradley, says the release of the RFQ is an indication of the Government of Ontario’s continued commitment to highway infrastructure investment. He also says “the extension eastwards means that Highway 407 would come closer to being the true Toronto bypass that it was intended to be.”
Bradley concedes that many trucking companies consider the current level of tolls on Highway 407 to be prohibitively expensive. “It’s a pure economic decision for carriers whether they feel the congestion cost savings from using Highway 407 exceed the toll costs. They have the option of not using the toll route if they feel it is uneconomical for them to do so. By creating a true bypass of Toronto’s busiest stretch of highway the equation changes. I suspect more will use the extended highway – especially those operating between the eastern part of Ontario or Montreal and the Michigan-Ontario border – but that decision is still a ways off. We are really just at the beginning of the process.”
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Instead of pouring millions and even billions of dollars on highways, we should be modernizing the railroads.
Rail traffic will be the future with the conveyance of freight to terminals across Canada and truckers being used for local deliveries. It only makes sense. I live south of the main lines here in Eastern Ontario and am often stopped as a freight train two or three kms long goes by composed of 40 foot cans each representing a truck and trailer on the 401 or one of the 400 highways. Think of the increased efficiency if this freight train was travelling at 100 kms plus between Quebec City, Montreal and Toronto, Windsor.
Local freight delivery of freight is efficient, long haul compared to fast and efficient rail is not.
The days of long haul trucking is fast going the way of the Pony Express. Who in their right mind as a 21 year old would want to sign on for a career in long haul trucking? The first couple of trips to Texas or California is fine but that quickly gets to be old hat.
Till the Railways clean up their act, and their nasty reputation gets cleaned up, it’s safer to haul by truck. Ironic, but as an ex-maintenance of way worker, somewhere, where railway maintenance lacks, will be a major calamity somewhere. Therefore, we’ll still be trucking.
would like to know how some of the big fleets are getting away with not having thier trucks equipped with speed limiters.
As an owner operator who complied with the law and who drives the 401 everyday iget passed by some trucks like Iam standing still where in reality Iam doing 105 km .
Was the minstry even checking for speedlimiters during thier latest blitz, I never agreed with the law and think it should be reversed
OTA president, David Bradley, says the release of the RFQ is an indication of the Government of Ontario’s continued commitment to highway infrastructure investment.
The 407 is long past due, when Mr Bradley says