POLL: Ford’s Highway 401 tunnel plan gets a thumbs down in Ontario

No one likes to be stuck in traffic on Highway 401 in the Greater Toronto Area, but would a tunnel be the answer?

Last week, Ontario Premier Doug Ford revealed more details about adding a tunnel under the major Greater Toronto Area highway.

Ford said his plan is to have a 19.5-metre-wide, three-level tunnel, with one level going eastbound, one for westbound traffic and a bottom level for transit.

Earlier this year, while on the campaign trail for re-election, Ford said the tunnel would go “beyond Brampton and Mississauga in the west and beyond Markham and Scarborough in the east” as a way to ease gridlock across the GTA.

While the tunnel could help relieve traffic on the busiest highway in Canada, it would cost billions of dollars and take at least a decade to complete, experts have said.

Most INsauga.com readers don’t support the concept.

INsauga.com asked: Do you support Doug Ford’s plan to build a tunnel under the 401?

As of Friday, 68.4 per cent of people (1,621) said no, they don’t support the plan, and 492 (20.8 per cent) said yes. Another 252 (10.6 per cent) were unsure about the tunnel idea.

The government appears to be forging ahead with plans, despite the fact that that documents, obtained from Global News and CBC under a freedom-of-information request, show the province previously shelved the idea. Global reported that an analysis of the tunnel idea several years ago mentions a risk of “roadway collapse.”

Lead photo of Highway 401: Clashmaker