How Toronto considered a privately-operated tunnel to alleviate congestion

Long before Premier Doug Ford championed the idea of a tunnel under Highway 401, the City of Toronto briefly considered a near-identical proposal from a Canadian engineering firm — one that would have seen twin tunnels under the Gardiner Expressway to relieve congestion.

The proposal, obtained by Global News through freedom of information laws, outlined plans for one tunnel between Jameson Avenue and Cherry Street and a second tunnel connecting Front Street and Spadina Avenue to Exhibition Place.

The pitch, which was first made by John Beck, then-CEO of construction firm Aecon, in 2015, was formalized two years later and presented to then-mayor John Tory and senior staff.

While the idea was later dropped, Tory’s office appeared to be seriously weighing the project and pushed a Toronto-area Liberal MP to consider the proposal as part of the newly created Canada Infrastructure Bank.

“Potential marquee, first-out-of-the-gate project for the Infrastructure Bank,” Tory’s chief of staff Chris Eby wrote to the federal MP in 2017, under the subject line “Gardiner tunnel.”

Sources, however, insist the idea was considered moot when the city decided to rehabilitate the Gardiner instead.

In an earlier statement to Global News, Aecon said the company has a long history of “sharing emerging technologies and innovative new approaches with decision makers.”

“Aecon is proud to have built game-changing energy and transportation projects for Ontarians,” the company said in a statement. “Building tunnels in support of transit and roadways to help relieve congestion is one solution that makes sense.”

As part of its presentation to the city — titled “GTConnect initiative” — Aecon proposed a wide-ranging solution for the Gardiner Expressway, Don Valley Parkway and Lakeshore Boulevard.

The idea would have included two main tunnels, a two-lane expansion to the DVP, and a potential transit corridor on a “modified Lakeshore boulevard” — all of which would be financed, operated and maintained by the developer for a 50-year term.

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The benefit to the city, Aecon argued, would come in the form of 2,000 construction jobs, new land development opportunities and “enhanced value of city and provincial lands.”

While commuters would save “10-20 minutes during peak hours,” drivers would have to pay for the privilege. The company’s proposal said the dual-tunnel route, along with the expanded lanes of the DVP, would be tolled for a 50-year period.

The slide deck also includes key timelines for the proposed project: 18 to 24 months to conduct an environmental assessment; 36 months to build the Front Street tunnel and widen the DVP and 72 months to build the Gardiner Expressway tunnel.

Emails, obtained by Global News, show Tory’s office was personally in touch with then-Aecon CEO John Beck and arranged a meeting with company representatives for Oct. 20, 2017.

Six days after the meeting took place, Tory’s chief of staff punted the idea to the federal government, asking for it to be considered for Infrastructure Bank funding.

To cover its bases, Aecon also went to the provincial government, which has significantly more financial firepower and oversees the rest of Ontario’s highways, to pitch the same idea.

Sources said Beck, who was appointed to the Order of Ontario in 2024, presented the same idea to the Ministry of Transportation, suggesting Aecon was looking for provincial support for the Toronto Gardiner tunnel.

The proposal, sources said, never made it past the one meeting.

In 2019, the idea was revived once again, but this time it moved north to target the growing gridlock on Highway 401.

The company filed an unsolicited proposal to Infrastructure Ontario offering a potential tunnel as the cure to highway congestion at a cost, sources said, of roughly $50 to $60 billion to build.

The 22-kilometre expressway tunnel proposal would have taken drivers under the most congested portions of Highway 401 — from the 427 to the 404 — with periodic on and off-ramps and a potential connection to Toronto Pearson International Airport.

While it’s unclear how closely the two proposals would have aligned, Aecon appeared to be offering what governments had been looking for: a job-creating, traffic-alleviating solution along with “world-class transportation infrastructure,” and entirely funded by the private sector.

The pitch may have been tempting, with the Ford government now studying a strikingly similar plan to build beneath Highway 401.

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