TORONTO — Today, the Ontario government introduced the Reducing Gridlock, Saving You Time Act to tackle gridlock and make life easier for drivers. The legislation, if passed, would allow the province to build highways faster, including through a new Highway 413 Act that would create a new, accelerated environmental assessment process for the construction of Highway 413 and the extensions of Highway 410 and 427. It would also exempt certain early works on Highway 413 that are near or adjacent to existing infrastructure and would have minimal environmental impacts from this process, to help get construction started without any more delay.
“With the worst travel times in North America, gridlock in Ontario is at a tipping point, and we need to act now," said Prabmeet Sarkaria, Minister of Transportation. “Under the leadership of Premier Ford, our government is saving drivers money and getting traffic moving again, including by building critical new highways like Highway 413 and the Bradford Bypass. With this proposed legislation, we’re also speeding up approvals on early works for Highway 413 so we can get shovels in the ground as soon as possible.”
The Reducing Gridlock, Saving You Time Act would save drivers up to $72 million this decade by enshrining fee freezes for knowledge and road tests in legislation and ensuring faster and safer towing services by making the Tow Zone Pilot a permanent program.
As was announced last week, the proposed legislation would also require municipalities to receive approval from the province before installing new bike lanes that would result in the removal of lanes for traffic. In addition, Ontario announced plans to make roads safer and prevent accidents and damages that can occur from potholes by consulting with municipalities to develop a pothole prevention and repair fund to open in the 2025 construction season. The province also intends to increase the speed limit to 110 km/h, where it is safe to do so, on all 400-series highways.
"I've heard loud and clear from residents of King and Vaughan that they are tired of traffic and gridlock taking away important time from family and friends," said MPP Stephen Lecce, King—Vaughan. "Building on our proven track record of extending Highway 427 to Major Mackenzie Dr, widening Highway 400 through King, breaking ground on the Bradford Bypass, delivering the largest subway expansion in North America with new stops in Vaughan, and upgrading the King City, Rutherford, and Maple GO stations, the Building Highways Faster Act will ensure faster construction on essential projects, helping improve the environment and reduce gridlock. As we deliver the largest subway expansion, including new stops in Vaughan, and upgraded GO Stations at King City, Rutherford and Maple, we are focused on reducing gridlock and improving the environment.” "
The proposed legislation would also create a new Building Highways Faster Act that would designate Highway 413, Bradford Bypass and Garden City Skyway bridge as priority projects and allow the province to designate other highway projects as priority to help get these projects built faster.
Quick Facts
Ontario is investing $28 billion over the next 10 years to renew, build and expand roads and highways. This includes building the Bradford Bypass and Highway 413 as well as twinning the Garden City Skyway bridge.
Highway 413 will help reduce travel times by up to 30 minutes each way and the Bradford Bypass will help reduce travel times by up to 35 minutes each way.
The Tow Zone Pilot is currently in place on four major highway sections in the Greater Toronto Area, where only authorized towing companies may remove vehicles. This was established in December 2021 to ensure customer protection and to clear collisions and vehicle breakdowns quickly and safely on some of the busiest highways in North America.
The government’s temporary freeze on driver testing fees has already saved drivers $35 million since 2020-21.
The Get It Done Act, 2024, froze fees for driver’s licences and Ontario Photo Cards, saving drivers an estimated $66 million over five years.
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