Ontario Highway 407 - History

History

Although construction of Highway 407 did not begin until 1987, planning for the bypass of Highway 401 north of Toronto began in the late-1950s. Concepts for the new "dual highway" first appeared in the 1959 plan for Metropolitan Toronto. Land adjacent to a hydro corridor was acquired for the future freeway in the 1960s, but sat vacant as the Ontario government opted instead to widen Highway 401 to a twelve-lane collector-express system. The Highway 401 expansion project was considered a success and construction of Highway 407 was shelved for almost thirty years.

The first section was completed in 1987 as a temporary routing for Highway 403 in Mississauga and Oakville (after a change in plans, this segment would be permanently part of Highway 403). The next phase to begin construction was a short connector between Highway 427 and Highway 400, and the upgrading of Highway 7 through Richmond Hill to a six-lane grade-separated expressway, which although originally planned to become incorporated into the 407 routing, today runs parallel to the highway. In addition, cross-street overpasses and ramps for the interchange connections to Highway 427 and Highway 400, and modifications to accommodate the highway at the Highway 403/QEW interchange, were constructed by the Ministry of Transportation in the early 1990s.

The Ontario government's normal process for highway construction was not possible given the financial constraints of the recession of the early 1990s. The Rae government developed the 407 ETR highway by seeking out private sector partnerships and using leading-edge electronic road pricing technology. Two firms bid on the project, with the Canadian Highways International Corporation being selected as the operator of the highway. Financing for the highway would be paid by user tolls lasting 35 years, after which it would return to the provincial system as a toll-free 400-series highway.

The highway opened in 1997, and highway cost roughly $1.6 billion. When it was later leased, one opposition MPP claimed that Ontario had spent $100 billion since the early 1970s acquiring the land that it sits on.

Highway 407 was officially opened to traffic on June 7, 1997 from Highway 410 to Highway 404; tolls were not charged for a month to allow motorists to test-drive the freeway. The next section extended the freeway 13 km (8.1 mi) to the west to meet Highway 401 near Winston Churchill Boulevard. It was opened on December 13, 1997. Another extension brought this end south to meet Highway 403, and was opened in mid-1998.

In the east, an extension to Markham Road, at what was then the southern terminus of Highway 48, was completed in early 1998. However, at the protesting of local residents and officials (a scenario which is currently being revisited in Oshawa), the freeway was opened to traffic only as far as McCowan Road on February 18. The short segment from McCowan Road to Markham Road remained closed for over a year, as locals feared the funneling of traffic onto Main Street, which Markham Road narrows into north of the freeway. Both Markham and McCowan were widened to four lanes between Highway 407 and Steeles Avenue at this time. This did not alleviate concerns, and the extension opened to continued protest on June 24, 1999.

As part of a controversial plan to balance the budget, and just prior to the Harris government's re-election campaign, the highway was leased to a conglomerate of private companies in 1999 for $3.1 billion, who renamed the route 407 ETR. The company, known as 407 International Inc., is owned by a consortium of Cintra Concesiones de Infraestructuras de Transporte (major shareholder) from Spain, Macquarie Infrastructure Group, and Montreal-based engineering firm SNC-Lavalin. The deal included a 99-year lease agreement, unlimited control over the highway and its tolls and a restriction under which the government may not build any nearby freeways which might potentially compete with 407 ETR; however, the Government maintained the ability to build a light transit system along the 407 right-of-way.

When purchased, the highway ran from the junction of Highway 403 in Mississauga to Markham Road in Markham. Extensions westward to the Queen Elizabeth Way and eastward to Highway 7 and Brock Road in Pickering were constructed by the corporation, as mandated in the lease agreement. Both of these extensions were not part of the original Highway 407 plans; rather, these protected corridors were to be future, non-tolled 400-Series highways. The westward extension from Highway 403 in Mississauga to the Queen Elizabeth Way in Burlington was initially intended to be an extension of Highway 403. (Highway 407 was originally slated to assume the temporary routing for Highway 403 in Mississauga-Oakville and end at the QEW.)

On October 5, 2010, the Canadian Pension Plan announced that an agreement was reached with the owners of the roadway to purchase 10% stake for $894 million. This implies a value of close to $9 billion for the highway in its current state.

The Ontario provincial government has quarrelled with 407 ETR over toll rates and customer service. On February 2, 2004, the government delivered notice to 407 ETR that they are considered to be in default of their contract because of 407 ETR's decision to raise toll rates without first obtaining the government's permission. The court's initial decision sided with 407 ETR: on July 10, 2004, an independent arbitrator affirmed that 407 ETR has the ability to raise toll rates without first consulting the government. The government filed an appeal of this decision but was overruled by an Ontario Superior Court decision released on January 6, 2005; however, a subsequent ruling by the Ontario Court of Appeal on June 13, 2005 granted the government permission to appeal the decision.

The 407 ETR is contractually responsible for maintaining high traffic levels as justification for increasing tolls. The 407 ETR conducts its own traffic studies, and reports that traffic on the 407 ETR has grown steadily since it first opened, with over 360,000 trips taken on the average workday. Regardless, parallel roads that Highway 407 would have supplemented continue to grow congested. Despite the self-reported growth of traffic on 407 ETR, the Ontario government had to revisit costly widening projects of Highway 401 and the QEW.

Critics have complained that the rising toll rates have made Highway 407 more of a "luxury" rather than a bypass of existing congested roads as it was initially intended.