Ford commits to building 401 expressway tunnel but provides no cost for the project

Progressive Conservative Leader Doug Ford says he plans to build a traffic and transit tunnel under Highway 401 even though there is no final price tag attached to the project

Ford confirmed during a campaign stop in Scarborough on Friday that feasibility studies for the 401 Tunnel Expressway have yet to be completed but once again cited the cost of lost productivity attributed to gridlock at more than $56 billion a year as the basis for building the “largest tunnel in the world.”

“The tunnel, which will include both vehicle and transit lanes, will extend beyond Brampton and Mississauga in the west, beyond Markham and Scarborough in the east. It will be one of the largest and most ambitious infrastructure projects in the entire world,” said Ford.

“The most important thing is to get the environmental studies done, to get the engineering plans and the design done and then we can start digging. By that time we’ll be able to have a firm cost.”

Ontario Greens Leader Mike Schreiner calls it “insulting” that Ford would throw out the idea of a tunnel with no cost estimate or timeline.

“Ontarians don’t want a tunnel under the 401. They don’t want Doug Ford to keep throwing money at the GTA when the rest of the province doesn’t have affordable homes or healthcare,” he said in a statement.

While acknowledging the project won’t happen overnight, Ford says it will create “thousands and thousands of jobs for many years to come” in the face of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threats.

“Once finished the 401 tunnel will unlock billions in economic growth and make our province’s economy more competitive.”

As well, Ford says the much-maligned Eglinton Crosstown LRT will open in 2025 but would not commit to a definitive timeline.

“I’m really, really confident that it will be opening this year,” he said. “I can’t give you an exact day or month but it will be open this year.”

At the TTC’s December 2024 board meeting, chair Jamaal Myers indicated the line would not open before June 1.

One transit advocacy group says commuters are looking for answers and credible opening dates.

“Promised opening dates have come and gone before,” TTCriders said in a statement.

“After nearly 14 years of construction, billions spent, and hundreds of millions in extra payouts to private companies, the Eglinton Crosstown LRT is still not open. And if you think that’s bad, when the LRT is finally open to the public, those same private companies will be responsible for maintaining it for the next 30 years.”

Ford also announced several other infrastructure projects including moving up the Sheppard East subway extension to connect the TTC’s Line 4 with the Scarborough Subway Extension at Sheppard Avenue East and McCowan Road.