Ontario Construction News staff writer
Building Highway 413, now in the preliminary planning stage, will create 3,500 construction jobs and pump $350 million into the economy, Premier Doug Ford said last Wednesday.
“The transportation system is the absolute backbone of our export-driven economy. It’s 40 per cent of the jobs in the entire sector and the current infrastructure that you’re dealing with is totally inadequate for our mission to build a better Ontario,” Ford said.
The new highway is included in the government’s $145 billion infrastructure plan and provide gridlock relief for communities in York, Peel and Halton regions that are expected to grow by two million people in the next 10 years.
For reaffirmed support for the project just one day after announcing the government will fully fund another new four-lane highway project, the Bradford Bypass. Both transportation projects are included in the fall economic outlook.
“This is a win for workers. It’s a win for commuters and it’s a win for Ontario,” he said, referring to 3,500 construction jobs expected to be created with the project.
“We can’t afford to go back to the politics of no. Instead, our government is say yes. Yes to building. Yes to investing and yes to growing.”
The corridor will extend from Highway 400 in the east to the Highway 401/407 express toll route (ETR) interchange area in the west and will include a four-to-six-lane 400 series highway, separate infrastructure dedicated for transit and passenger stations, and intelligent transportation and truck parking.
“ORBA supports the construction of Highway 413, building infrastructure is a critical part of Ontario’s long-term economic plan, and even more important to our economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The population of the GTA is expected to hit 9.9 million by 2045. We must begin to build the necessary infrastructure today so we can be ready to meet this challenge in the future,” said Bryan Hocking, the Ontario Road Builders’ Association‘s chief executive officer.
Preliminary design of the preferred route has commenced for this essential project. During construction, Highway 413 is expected to support up to 3,500 jobs each year and generate up to $350 million in annual real gross domestic product (GDP).
“We’re moving forward with the procurement process and in order to get the best price . . . we want that procurement to be as competitive as possible,” said Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney.
“We are going to leave it to the market to determine what that cost is going to be, but we want a competitive process.”
Upcoming Public Information Centres (PICs) will be held in December 2021 for public feedback on the project. In addition, Indigenous communities and the public will continue to have opportunities to provide input into the design of the proposed Highway 413 and Community Value Plans will be developed.