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Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday October 2, 2024 (also published in the Toronto Star)

Animated making-of clip here!

Doug Ford’s 401 Tunnel: A Far-Fetched Fantasy That Deserves to Be Shut Down

Premier Doug Ford has once again put forward a grandiose idea, this time proposing a tunnel beneath Highway 401 to address Toronto’s infamous traffic congestion. On paper, it may sound like a bold, out-of-the-box solution. But let’s not kid ourselves — this tunnel plan is nothing more than a fantasy. It should be stopped in its tracks before any serious time, money, or energy is wasted on what would inevitably become Ontario’s most expensive and disruptive boondoggle.

Traffic congestion in and around Toronto is undeniably a major problem. Every day, commuters spend countless hours crawling through the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), their lives eaten away by the city’s overwhelming gridlock. And yes, solutions are desperately needed to tackle this growing crisis. But a 50-kilometre tunnel under one of the busiest highways in North America is not the solution — in fact, it’s a laughable idea.

Globe & Mail Editorial: Doug Ford is driving Ontario down the wrong road

Let’s start with the basics. Shutting down the 401, even temporarily, would create a logistical nightmare. This isn’t just a highway — it’s the main artery of Ontario’s road system, carrying millions of vehicles every week. Any construction work, let alone digging a multi-billion-dollar tunnel beneath it, would cause absolute chaos. Traffic would be forced onto already congested side roads and highways, exacerbating an already dire situation. And for what? A project that, even if completed, would likely create more problems than it solves.

The reality is that this tunnel wouldn’t alleviate congestion; it would induce more traffic. It’s simple economics — add more road space, and more cars will come. We’ve seen this happen time and again. From the Gardiner Expressway to the Don Valley Parkway, expanding capacity doesn’t ease traffic; it encourages more drivers to hit the road, creating more gridlock in the long run. This tunnel would do the same, all while bleeding the province of billions of taxpayer dollars.

Even if Ford could magically snap his fingers and build the tunnel overnight, it still wouldn’t address the core issue: Toronto’s over-reliance on cars. More cars on more roads won’t solve the problem. What we need are smarter, more sustainable solutions that focus on reducing the number of vehicles on the road, not increasing them.
There are countless alternatives Ford could pursue that don’t involve digging a tunnel beneath the 401. Investing in better public transit, for one, would have a far more meaningful impact. Expanding and modernizing the transit system — projects like the Eglinton East LRT or the Waterfront East LRT — could move thousands of people more efficiently, easing road congestion without the need for more highways. These are real, tangible solutions with existing business cases that simply need funding.

Toronto Star Editorial: Doug Ford’s tunnel fantasy gives politics a bad name

Ford could also consider measures like road tolls, congestion pricing, or policies that incentivize fewer cars on the road. These ideas may be less flashy than a massive tunnel, but they are effective. Major cities around the world, from London to Singapore, have seen significant reductions in traffic thanks to congestion pricing. Toronto could follow suit, but that would require serious, hard work — something Ford’s tunnel fantasy allows him to sidestep.

More frustratingly, Ford’s tunnel proposal is a massive distraction from the other pressing issues Ontario faces. While the premier was out selling this fantastical idea, the province’s healthcare system continues to suffer from severe underfunding, hallway medicine persists, and students are stuck in crumbling schools. Housing is increasingly unaffordable, and social services are stretched to their limits. Yet instead of addressing these crises, Ford is focused on selling us a tunnel to nowhere.

At best, Ford’s tunnel plan is a misguided attempt to appeal to voters frustrated by traffic. At worst, it’s a cynical distraction — a shiny object meant to pull focus away from his government’s failures in health, education, housing, and the environment. Either way, this tunnel must never be allowed to leave the drawing board.

Doug Ford may pride himself on being a man of big ideas, but sometimes the biggest ideas are also the worst. And this 401 tunnel is one of the worst. Instead of wasting time and resources on a pipe dream that would lead to more traffic and more problems, Ford should focus on real, actionable solutions that benefit everyone, not just drivers. Let’s hope this tunnel gets buried before it ever gets dug. (AI)