407 East to give drivers a free ride - for now

The Durham-region extension to the toll road is now open - and free - until the new year.

Thestar.com
June 20, 2016
By Noor Javed

Have you been itching to drive the open road of Highway 407 - for free?

This might be your chance, after the first phase of the 407 extension opened up in Durham Region on Monday morning.

Monday mid-day, there were only a few cars on the 22-kilometre road extension, on the stretch from Brock Rd. in Pickering to Harmony Rd. in Oshawa, even though the route is free for the rest of the year.

Highway 412, another toll road, which connects Highway 407 and Highway 401, is also open and free.

“There will be a toll-free period on the new Highways 407 and 412 until the new year, allowing drivers to travel on these roads free of charge,” according to a news release from the Ministry of Transportation. “Following that, tolls will be in place.”

Peter LeBel, Commissioner of Community and Marketing Services with the Town of Whitby says the community has been waiting for this day for years.

“It’s a most important piece of infrastructure for Whitby and Durham Region,” said LeBel. “We have a commuting population, residents who are leaving to work in other municipalities. We also have a commuting population that comes to Whitby,” he said. “So this will help ease the pressure of our other roads,” he said.

He says the highway will also open up employment lands and make the town more enticing for companies who want to open shop, and also have access to the highway.

“It will clearly also boost our residential population, and there is a long-term opportunity for job creation and job growth,” said Lebel, who said the Town held a public event on the weekend, which saw thousands of residents “walk, run and bike” on a short stretch of the highway.

The second phase of the project - connecting the 407 from Harmony Rd to Highway 35 and building Highway 418 to connect to the 401 just past Courtice - will be built by 2020. An interim opening from Harmony Road to Taunton Road at Highway 418 will be open by 2017.

The Highway 407 East Project is cost around $1.2 billion. Over the next 12 years, the province will spend $160 billion on all infrastructure across the entire project.

This portion of the 407 and the 412 is publically owned, but will be tolled. Once tolling is initiated, the province will establish customer service standards, set toll rates, and retain revenues generated by tolls.

But drivers will use one transponder, receive one bill, and have to talk to only one customer service rep for all the tolled highways, according to the Highway407East website.

To the west of Brock Rd, things will be the same, including tolls and fees - and the private ownership.