Ford removes two tolls

Motorists using 412, 418 will drive free as of April

With an Ontario election less than four months away, Premier Doug Ford is removing tolls from Highway 412 in Whitby and Highway 418 in Clarington.

But Ford’s campaign-style pledge does not apply to Highway 407, which was sold to a private consortium by Progressive Conservative premier Mike Harris before the 1999 election, or the newer publicly owned section of that tollway into Durham Region.

“You can hop on that highway and you can drive for free,” Ford told reporters Friday in Whitby, noting toll charges will be lifted as of April 5.

That’s one month before the official start of the June 2 election campaign.

The two highways, which connect Highway 401 and Highway 407, are the only provincially owned north-south toll roads in Ontario.

Tolls are about 30 cents a kilometre for motorists and 80 cents for commercial transports.

The highways were built by the previous Liberal government, in which current leader Steven Del Duca was transportation minister. Highway 412 opened in 2016 and Highway 418 opened in 2019.

“I just want to remind you the person that put in these tolls was Steven Del Duca. He was the architect of this. He said … he will never get rid of tolls. Well, we don’t believe that,” said Ford, who has been criticized for leaving the fees in place since his government was elected in 2018.

“We have heard the people of Durham loud and clear and we agree that the tolls imposed on Highways 412 and 418 by the previous government are wrong and unfair.”

Durham residents have long complained that the public highways were subject to tolls, unlike most others in Ontario.

That led to increased congestion on adjacent streets as commuters tried to avoid the charges.

Councils in Whitby, Ajax and Durham Region have all passed motions imploring the province to remove the levies.

Ron Stevens, a Durham resident who has been pushing for the changes for years, said it was “welcome news and long overdue” for the community.

“It is unfortunate that Premier Ford blames the previous government for something his transportation minister (Caroline Mulroney) defended and said was justified to build these roads,” said Stevens, who also blasted local Tory MPP Lorne Coe for not moving sooner.

“This community has been treated very unfairly and they have now acknowledged that for the first time, obviously due to an election coming soon.”

A provincial report last April found the little-used highways were projected to generate $580 million in revenue for the treasury over the next three decades.

In 2019, Highway 412 had 12,200 daily drivers while Highway 418 had 3,100 drivers.

That compares with the 400,000 drivers who use Highway 400 each day between Highways 401 and 407.

New Democratic MPP Jennifer French (Oshawa), who has advocated for the removal of the tolls, hailed the announcement as “a big victory that’s long overdue.”

“That was a terrible move from Steven Del Duca and the Liberals,” French said, stressing the Tories share blame.

“Doug Ford could and should have removed the tolls of on Highways 412 and 418 years ago. Instead, his government let my 2018 (private member’s) bill to end the tolls languish at committee,” she said.

“That means drivers shelled out extra cash for an extra four years just because Doug Ford wanted to wait until just before an election to do what was right all along.”

Pressure had mounted on Ford to cancel the charges after he promised the proposed Highway 413 and Bradford Bypass would not be tolled.