York Region area commuters are welcoming more lanes on area highways as the province announced the completion of widening for both Highway 400 and 404 Jan. 28.
The province has added lanes to both highways, stretching nine kilometres on Highway 400 from Major Mackenzie Drive to King Road, and 11 kilometres on Highway 404 from Stouffville Road to Highway 407. Highway 400 is getting an all-purpose lane in each direction, while Highway 404 has a new high-occupancy vehicle lane in each direction.
Minister of Transportation Prabmeet Sarkaria said gridlock costs the economy billions each year and it costs drivers time and quality of life.
“Expanding Highways 400 and 404 will provide much-needed relief for drivers, helping them spend less time in traffic and more time with their families and friends,” Sarkaria said in a news release.
The expansion to Highway 404 was initially announced jointly between the provincial and federal governments in December 2016, while the Highway 400 expansion was announced in June 2017. The province said it is investing nearly $28 billion over the next decade to repair, build and expand highways, roads and bridges across Ontario.
“Our government remains committed to ensuring our infrastructure keeps up with our rapidly growing community,” Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill MPP Michael Parsa said in a news release. “The widening of Highways 404 and 400 is a significant step forward, helping to ease congestion and improve the daily commutes of drivers in Ontario."
Green Infrastructure Partners was awarded the contract to widen Highway 400, while Dufferin Construction Company and Brennan Paving and Construction Ltd. both got a section of Highway 404 to widen.
King-Vaughan MPP Stephen Lecce said the government got shovels in the ground to quickly widen Highway 400 through a key stretch with more widening to come.
"Families in King and Vaughan have told me time and time again: enough with the endless traffic and standstill gridlock. We either sit back and watch as our 400-series highway network reaches capacity within the next decade — or we take action."