Highway 401 Tunnel — $9.1M Study for a Fantasy Megaproject
In September 2024, Ford proposed building a massive tunnel underneath Highway 401. By November 2025, the government had awarded a $9.1 million feasibility study to WSP Canada. Transportation experts called the idea "astronomically expensive" and unlikely to address traffic, suggesting the funds and political will should be directed toward the underutilized Highway 407 or expanded rail transit instead.
🚇 A proposed policy Transit policy from September 2024 · Partially sourced
Updated · Created
"Tackling Traffic Congestion"
Studying the feasibility of a tunnel underneath Highway 401 — the busiest highway in North America — to provide congestion relief for GTA commuters.
"$9.1M to Study Something Everyone Already Knows Is Unaffordable"
Transportation engineers responded with near-universal skepticism. Boston's comparable Big Dig took 25 years and cost $24.3 billion — over 5x its original estimate. The government already knows tunnelling under a 16-lane highway through a dense urban environment would cost tens of billions. Meanwhile, Highway 407 runs parallel with unused capacity.
- $9.1 million feasibility study awarded to WSP Canadasource
- Boston's Big Dig (smaller scale) cost $24.3 billion and took 25 yearssource
- Highway 407 already exists as a parallel route but is underutilized due to high private tollssource
- Study results won't be available until 2027 — years of announcements with no constructionsource
This section represents editorial interpretation of documented evidence.
Figures are approximate, using publicly available Ontario cost data.
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