Comparison of Highway 413 and Highway 407 for Improving Truck and

Situated to the north of Highway 407, the current preferred route would link the existing interchange between the 401 and the 407 Express Toll Route (ETR) at the Halton-Peel boundary in the west with Highway 400 north of Vaughan in the east. [...] Subsidising the 407 ETR toll to encourage the diversion of (truck) traffic from the 401 would have the following benefits: As using the 407 ETR is not economically viable for many commercial road users, introducing a subsidy could ensure that the price of the toll is lower than the (perceived and real) value of the additional time spent in slow-moving traffic on the 401. [...] Although this approach would require an agreement between the Ontario government and the ETR Concession Company Ltd (and does not improve accessibility to the city for those living in the western regions of the GTA), it addresses the key aim – to reduce the congestion on the 401 – while eliminating the plethora of environmental risks associated with the construction of the 413. [...] Indeed, the highway passing through Toronto – the 401 – is widely considered to be the busiest highway in the world.1 The Ontario Government advocates that the proposed Highway 413 would alleviate some of the congestion issues currently experienced on the 401.2 Connecting with the 401 west of Toronto, it would allow drivers to bypass the busiest section of the 401 by passing through the north of t. [...] Although this approach would require an agreement between the Ontario government and the ETR Concession Company Ltd., (and it does not improve accessibility to the city for those living in the western regions of the GTA), it addresses the key aim – to reduce congestion on the 401 – while eliminating the plethora of environmental risks associated with the construction of the 413.