Promise History
2.04.022 - “Over the next decade, a re-elected PC government will […] build highways […] including […]: Highway 413, which will save drivers in Halton, Peel and York Regions up to 30 minutes each way on their commute”
09-Dec-2024
The Reducing Gridlock, Saving You Time Act was introduced in November 2024, which included clauses to expedite the building of Highway 413 through exempting highway building from the Environmental Assessment Act, and more broadly, accelerating environmental assessments. However, at the end of the Ford government’s second term no construction had begun, so this promise is broken. Furthermore, internal reports from the Ontario government suggest that the development will in fact not save commuters time. This promise is broken.
“On November 25, 2024, the Reducing Gridlock, Saving You Time Act received Royal Assent, allowing the province to accelerate construction of Highway 413, Bradford Bypass and the Garden City Skyway Bridge Twinning project, as well as create an accelerated process for the assessment of environmental impacts on Highway 413.”
Highway 413 Preliminary Design 90 Per Cent Complete
23-Aug-2024
Highway 413, initially known as the GTA West Corridor, was a promise made during the Ford government’s 2018 election campaign (see more here). In May 2021, the project was designated under the federal impact assessment process, meaning that the federal government took over the environmental assessment. In October 2023, Ontario announced that it was applying for judicial review of the federal government’s involvement in Highway 413, and in April 2024, the government anounced that they had reached an agreement with the federal government, and construction would begin in 2025. However, the government’s own internal documents suggest that the highway will in fact not save drivers time. This promise is in progress.
The Ford government is brushing aside figures from an internal document showing the building of Highway 413 will do little to help ease gridlock in the GTA. […] However internal documents obtained by The Trillium through the freedom of information process show projections of commute speeds of between 20 and 40 km an hour all 400-series highways by the year 2041, whether or not Highway 413 is built.
30-Apr-2024
“The Ontario government is moving ahead to get shovels in the ground on Highway 413 after having reached an agreement with the federal government for the project to proceed with strong environmental protections in place.”
Ontario Building Highway 413
24-Oct-2023
“Ontario is applying for judicial review of the federal government’s involvement in controversial projects like Highway 413 and Ontario Place to “ensure that federal decision makers can no longer impede desperately needed infrastructure projects,” the province says. […] The federal government says it hasn’t received the province’s initial project description so it can start the impact assessment process.”
Ontario asks court to prevent feds from 'holding up' Highway 413, Ontario Place
25-Jun-2022
Highway 413, initially known as the GTA West Corridor, was a promise made during the Ford government’s 2018 election campaign (see more here). In May 2021, the project was designated under the federal impact assessment process, meaning that the federal government took over the environmental assessment. This environmental assessment is still ongoing, and as the commitment to time savings is contingent on the building of the Highway (see more here), this promise is considered not rated.
“On May 3, 2021, the Federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change designated the Highway 413 Project under the Federal Impact Assessment Act. […] Ontario has started to develop materials required for the planning phase of the Federal Impact Assessment process, including the preparation of an Initial Project Description (IPD). “
Process and Timeline
Reference Documents
“The Panel’s modeling results suggested that the [GTA West Highway, now Highway 413] Recommended Actions would deliver transportation benefits in the form of travel time savings across a range of future scenarios. In some scenarios, such as the self-driving vehicle scenarios, the results suggested higher travel time savings. In others, such as the slower-growth, “compact” land use scenarios, modeling results suggested lower travel time savings. Translating these model results into practical findings, the Panel concluded that the [GTA West] Recommended Actions would deliver approximately one minute of travel time savings per vehicular trip across the Greater Golden Horseshoe. On its own, the proposed new [GTA West] highway corridor would deliver approximately half of those savings, or about 30 seconds per vehicle trip.”
Greater Toronto Area West Corridor Advisory Panel Report
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