You can finally drive on Hwy. 404 extension

yorkregion.com
Sept. 17, 2104
By Heidi Riedner

It’s been a long road to get 13 kilometres of highway completed, but the Hwy. 404 extension from Green Lane to Ravenshoe Road opened to traffic at 3 p.m. today.

Twenty years after first being tabled, 14 transportation ministers from all three political parties later, five years after a provincial commitment and almost two years after its original completion date, the long-awaited extension opened after an official ribbon cutting ceremony with Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca today at 1:30 p.m.

This project is proof of the government’s commitment to making the daily commute and quality of life better for Ontario families, Del Duca said, adding the new $100-million, four-lane extension will take up to 22,000 vehicles a day off local roads, making the community safer while reducing travel times for commuters and commercial vehicles, as well as providing significant economic spin-off benefits now and for years to come.

Today underscores the importance of the province’s transportation and transit infrastructure to fuel the economy, create jobs and improve safety, he added.

“It will help keep goods and people moving for years to come.”

Georgina Mayor Rob Grossi and East Gwillimbury Mayor Virginia Hackson were pleased the day had finally arrived, four years after the first shovels on the project hit the ground in 2010.

“I, like many others, have waited a long time to see this extension finally come to fruition and to say I am excited is an understatement,” said Georgina Mayor Rob Grossi, who has long touted the highway’s benefits for economic development in northern York Region and repeatedly brought the extension to the political table.

So much so, York regional chairperson Bill Fisch made reference to his fellow council member as one, in particular, who has been asking about this day for what seems like the past five or six years.

But that’s because it is not just a road, Grossi said.

“To the town, it’s our connection for everything. It brings us that much closer to more commercial and industrial opportunities so that our residents will have more opportunities closer to home.”

Cutting commute times for East Gwillimbury residents was one of many benefits heralded by Hackson, who added the opening date of the 404 extension was the No. 1 question people were asking her in the last two months.

Expected to take up to 22,000 vehicles off local roads each day, according to the Transportation Ministry, Hackson said the highway will alleviate a lot of traffic that is on our north/south roads, especially with the 2nd Concession, slated for closure Sept. 22.

She also couldn’t resist a little friendly jostling over bragging rights with her Georgina counterpart.

“It’s an East Gwillimbury road. It starts in East Gwillimbury and ends in East Gwillimbury,” she said, adding her next little challenge was getting the sign on Hwy. 401 to say Hwy. 404 to East Gwillimbury.

Grossi was pleased, but also hoped the minister would put the Bradford Bypass back on the table.

Plans for the bypass, connecting Hwys. 404 and 400, have been up in the air since the 1970s.

“It’s the next major piece of infrastructure that we need built right away,” Grossi said.

Since the possibility of extending the 404 was put on the radar in 1994, Grossi has met with transportation ministers from all three parties, before the Liberals finally committed almost seven years ago to fund and build the 13-kilometre stretch of roadway.

After years of rumours, the project was formally announced by then transportation minister Donna Cansfield in August 2007.

Construction began in July 2010. It was supposed to open to traffic by mid-December 2012, but soil, utility and expropriation issues delayed the project by two years.

It may have been a long time coming, but the extension represents an important part of the region’s overall transportation strategy to help people, businesses and the region, Fisch said, adding there are just as many people going north as there are going south and that’s a big change in the past 20 years.

Investment in road and transit infrastructure will be a major issue for the next two decades, he added.

Following the afternoon media conference, an MTO safety vehicle led a convoy of those in attendance for the first test spin prior to the full opening at 3 p.m.