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Roads: Highway 407 East (Durham Region)

Contract for Highway 7, Brock Road to Hwy 7/12 - 12.45 km...Grading, Drainage, Granular Base, Hot Mix Paving, Illumination, Traffic Signals and Structures

On ontroads they are saying this is for the widening to 4/5 lanes.

The Ministry of Transportation undertook a Class Environmental Assessment (EA) and Preliminary Design Study in 2007 to investigate highway improvements to approximately 12 km of Highway 7, from Brock Road in Pickering to approximately 0.2 km east of Highway 7/12, in Whitby. The Detail Design for the widening of Highway 7 to four lanes from east of Brock Road (the current terminus of the 4 lane section) in the City of Pickering to approximately 200 m east of Highway 7/12 (on Winchester Road East) in the Town of Whitby, a distance of approximately 12 km is currently underway. The purpose of the project is to address the existing highway deficiencies. The Highway 7 improvements will consist of a new carpool lot east of Halls Road, implementing left turn lanes at all unsignalized intersections and providing exclusive right turn lanes at signalized intersections, improvements to 13 crossing roads at the intersections and approaches including new signals at the four signalized intersections, widening of the East Duffins Creek Bridge and replacement of the bridge deck, drainage improvements including 22 culvert replacements and new storm sewers where necessary, and the Hwy 7 / Hwy 407 bridge underpass to be realigned to the north of the existing highway between Cochrane Street and Ashburn Road.
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Should be an improvement for commuters waiting on the 407 to be built.... and for intercity travellers using Lakeridge or Salem instead of Brock
 
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Extending Highway 407 East From Brock Road Pickering to Highway 35/115
http://www.news.ontario.ca/mto/en/2...om-brock-road-pickering-to-highway-35115.html


map
http://www.news.ontario.ca/mto/en/l...o_be_completed_by_2020/Phase 1 & 2 407 E.pdf

March 10, 2011 10:15 AM

Highway 407 East will be extended 45 kilometres from Brock Road in Pickering to Highway 35/115. In addition, two north-south links will connect Highway 401 to the Highway 407 East Extension (10 kilometres for West Durham Link and 10 kilometres for East Durham Link).

Community Benefits

Extending Highway 407 East to Highway 35/115 will help connect communities, residents and businesses. Thousands of construction jobs will be created locally and the economic benefits will help the regions prosper and provide a better quality of life for residents.

The 407 East will serve residents along the highway route, relieve congested areas of Highway 401 - Canada's busiest highway - and improve the movement of services and goods across Ontario. Getting Highway 407 East built means jobs - about 13,000 jobs for Phase 1 alone and significant economic spin-off benefits for local businesses.

Completion of Highway 407 East will also maximize land development opportunities for Durham, provide network continuity east of the GTA, and provide emergency detour routes for two nuclear power plant facilities in the Region of Durham.

The 407 East Extension is important for the Region of Durham, Peterborough, and Kawartha communities. Once complete, Highway 407 will create opportunities for business, population and employment growth - all part of the Provincial government's Open Ontario Plan to create jobs and build better infrastructure.

Project Details

By late 2015 - approximately 22 kilometres of new east-west highway from Brock Road to Harmony Road, and 10 kilometres of north-south highway (the West Durham Link ) connecting Highway 407 East and Highway 401.

By 2017 - an interim completion from Harmony Road to Taunton/East Durham Link

In 2020 - approximately 23 kilometres of new east-west highway from Harmony Road to Highway 35/115, and 10 kilometres of north-south highway (the East Durham Link ) connecting Highway 407 East and Highway 401.

Environmental Assessment



Ontario, in consultation with the Region of Durham, residents and surrounding municipalities, undertook an individual Environmental Assessment (EA) study to address the long-term transportation needs in Durham and the surrounding area. On June 3, 2010, the Minister approved the EA and made a decision to allow the 407 East transportation corridor to proceed subject to strict conditions.

As part of the plan to ensure a high degree of public engagement during the EA process, the Ministry held a number of Public Information Centres and property owner information sessions, established a direct project phone line, and held small "kitchen table" meetings with community members.

Through comprehensive consultations, Ontario also identified opportunities to help protect the local environment and mitigate the impact on local wildlife, such as additional landscaping, enhancements to wetlands, strategic placement of wildlife crossings and the inclusion of community gateways.

Going Forward

A 407 East Advisory Committee, with members from local municipalities, the Region of Durham, and provincial and federal regulatory agencies reviews documents about implementation, and provides advice in accordance with the Environmental Assessment conditions of approval.

Ongoing work to permit construction of the 407 East includes archaeological investigations, mitigation to protect species-at-risk, and utility relocations and property acquisition for the right-of-way.

The Province is also still required to obtain additional approvals under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act and Ontario's Endangered Species Act before construction of the extension can begin.

The draft report on the federal EA is posted on the 407eastea.com website and the Canadian Environmental Registry (English and French versions). A final report will be submitted for a four-week comment period. The final report is anticipated to be completed shortly and a decision from the Canadian Minister of Environment will follow.
 
BIDDERS SHORT-LISTED TO EXTEND HIGHWAY 407 EAST
Project will contribute to long-term employment growth in Durham Region

TORONTO, March 10 /CNW/ - Infrastructure Ontario and the Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO) today announced the bidders short-listed to submit proposals to extend Highway 407 eastward to Harmony Road and to connect it to Highway 401 with a new link.

Extension of Highway 407 East to Highway 35/115 will be completed in two phases. Construction of phase one will extend Highway 407 east from Brock Road in Pickering to Harmony Road in Oshawa. A detailed construction timetable will be set after a selected bidder develops the project schedule. The first phase of the extension is expected to be open in late 2015 and the second phase to extend Highway 407 East to Highway 35/115 is expected to be complete in 2020.

Activities to design and construct the highway extension and the new West Durham link will create and support thousands of jobs; help strengthen Durham Region's economy; and align with Ontario's Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe. The extended highway will provide commuters with efficient access to the Greater Toronto Area.

Over the past few months, several companies participated in a rigorous competitive request for qualifications (RFQ) process that reviewed and evaluated their design, construction, maintenance and financing abilities to deliver phase one of the Highway 407 East Extension.

From this process, five bidders pre-qualified to deliver phase one of the Highway 407 East Extension and the three highest scoring ones have been short-listed to participate in the request for proposals process.

Shortlisted bidders include:

407 East Development Group
Cintra Infraestructuras S.A.
Intoll Group
SNC-Lavalin

407 East Development Partners
OHL Concesiones S.L.
Global Via Infrastructuras S.A
Borealis Infrastructure Management Inc.
Con-Drain Company Limited
Coco Paving Inc.

407 GreenLink Partners
Bilfinger Berger Project Investments
Macquarie Group Limited
AECON Group Inc.
Fengate Capital Management Limited
Dufferin Construction Company

The two remaining pre-qualified companies will be held in reserve to replace any of the short-listed bidders should they be unable to participate.

Since October 2003, the provincial government has committed more than $424 million for transit, hospitals, highway infrastructure, municipal roads and bridges and other municipal capital projects in Durham Region.

The Highway 407 East extension will be a tolled highway that will be publicly owned. The government will set toll rates and establish high customer service standards. The Highway 407 East will be a provincial asset that will increase in value over time.

Infrastructure Ontario and MTO are working together to develop the Highway 407 East Extension project. Infrastructure Ontario is a Crown corporation dedicated to managing some of the province's larger and more complex infrastructure renewal projects - ensuring they are built on time and on budget.
 
I should take some update photos when I drive by next.. I tend to only fo by Brock Road, but the realignment is now completely graded and looks ready for pavement.
 
innsertnamehere said:
I should take some update photos when I drive by next.. I tend to only fo by Brock Road, but the realignment is now completely graded and looks ready for pavement.
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407 design still a work in progress. I know we have working working shifts to get quantities, drainage and culverts done. I've even worked on it a bit but i've got other MTO stuff to deal with.
 
Mulder said:
407 design still a work in progress. I know we have working working shifts to get quantities, drainage and culverts done. I've even worked on it a bit but i've got other MTO stuff to deal with.
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Has the design for the West Durham Link/401 interchange been completed? Like insertnamehere, that's one of the few 407E construction zones I've had the chance to see, but it looks like construction is progressing pretty well.

It was hard to tell from the images posted on the 407E website, but it looks like the 401 will be widened to at least 4 lanes up until the interchange. Can you confirm the number of lanes that the 401 will have west and east of that interchange? Thanks!
 
Updated satellite imagery is on google earth now showing construction around Brooklin and the 401. From september 27th 2013. you can see where the 401 realignment is, along with the outlines of a couple of interchanges just south of Brooklin. To see it you have to use the "historic imagery" feature, as it is not set as the standard imagery for the area. (that is still from 2009)
 
it just shows all imagery google has available from all dates, but as the most recent stuff is of insufficient quality (dark, clouds) it is simply filed under the historic imagery area. usually the newest imagery is the standard imagery, meaning all available is older.
 
I've been driving on the 401 through to Whitby a lot lately and it looks like major work is being done on the future interchange to the West Durham Link and the new overpass at Lake Ridge Road. A lot of the supports for the overpass and some of the WDL ramps are up already and the ground looks to be flattened and ready for paving at the WDL interchange. There's a lot of construction equipment on site and it really looks like more work is being done by the day.

As a resident of Durham who recognizes the problems inherent of highways as a transportation method (and one of the few, it seems, who do) I can't begin to explain how much this project frustrates me. In particular the WDL is going to be plowing through some of the only remaining greenfields in west Whitby, polluting the Lynde Creek which it will largely run next to, establish a sky-high multi-ramp eyesore at the 401 and 407 interchanges, cut off a stand-alone historic residential area (Almond Village) from the rest of Whitby, and worst of all, be underused by drivers who will just take Lake Ridge instead to avoid the tolls. Ugh. This is such a waste.

Sorry for the rant everyone, it's my first post on this forum (long-time lurker) and this issue has been fairly fresh in my mind for a while now!
 
I live in Durham as well, But I don't really see too many issues with it. It will finally finish the Toronto bypass that the 407 was always meant to be, and with Durham scheduled to receive most of the suburban Toronto growth over the next decade, its needed. Only so much traffic can be stuffed onto the 401 or be taken by the lakeshore line. I think I would agree with this much less if it wasn't a toll road, it makes people pay a bit more for the luxury of taking the car. The revenues from the tolls are also going to go towards transit expansion, which is great. A lot of growth in Durham is being designed to be fairly sustainable sprawl, designed specifically with transit access in mind and with mixed use street fronting retail along the main streets, with parking located behind instead of in front.

The 401 connector routes probably shouldn't be tolled though, you are right.

Its not like Lakeshore is a particularly busy road right now anyway, and the Greenbelt means that there will never be much local traffic on it as it is protected from sprawl. Highway 7 has just finished its upgrade to 4 lanes for the people who want to avoid the toll road, so there is that as well. In the end of the day the province chose Durham as the spot to direct most of the cities sprawl over the next few decades, they stuck strict limits on most of the rest of the GTA, usually only giving them 2 or 3km from the current urban boundary to sprawl. Durham gets up to essentially Claremont, and the 407 is expected to be the backbone of that. If it wasn't this 407, it would be an untolled extension of the 427 (more than currently), further upgrades to the 400, 404, 410, as well as the Halton west highway that they want to build between Georgetown and Brampton. This highway at least has some use other than encouraging more sprawl.
 
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innsertnamehere said:
The 401 connector routes probably shouldn't be tolled though, you are right.
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Agreed. The WDL can serve a valid function of taking pressure off N-S arterial roads in Durham, particularly Brock St, which passes right through old Whitby. I agree completely with having a tolled 407, but there aren't very many easy N-S highway options in Durham Region.
 
You both have very valid points; traffic on Brock Street (and Brock Road, further west at the current end of the 407 in Pickering) can be brutal at times. I suppose my primary objection is to the freeway nature of the West Durham Link (esp. next to or directly through the narrow strip of the Greenbelt between Ajax and Whitby) ; I don't see it as being a necessary configuration. Lake Ridge is an 80 km/h road with very few intersections. Admittedly it is only two-lanes but for the price of a brand-new highway and complex freeway-to-freeway interchanges a fair degree of upgrades (widening to two lanes, full interchange with the 401, even grade separation at busier intersections if warranted) could be made to turn the existing road into one serving the same function as the WDL instead.

At the end of the day I also agree about the necessity of the 407 East as a whole, especially the revenue that its tolls will place into the provincial coffers (where, had it not been for Harris, they would/should have been going all along).
 
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