The Ontario Ministry of Transport (MTO) is aware of the traffic bottleneck on Highway 401 between Whitby and Ajax, and is looking for an interim solution before undertaking a major widening project.
“MTO is undertaking work along the Highway 401 corridor and its crossing bridges in Durham Region, through a series of projects that include bridge replacements to accommodate the future long-term plan to widen Highway 401,” said a statement issued in response to a Durham Post query.
“MTO is also conducting a detailed traffic study in the Highway 401 and Highway 412 connection to determine if there are any potential interim solutions to improve traffic operations prior to the proposed express-collector expansion,” said the statement.
Durham Post had approached the ministry following the start of its works on widening Highway 401 to 10 lanes at Oshawa.
Readers had reacted saying an increase in lanes will not solve the gridlocks that happen both east- and west-bound between Whitby and Ajax.
A 4th lane already exists at Salem both directions. Extending them back to the 412 would help. The issue would be 5 lanes each direction by 2028, implies any change should involve too much rework when that happens. My question would be, why not 12 lanes Pickering to 418 slash 35/115, or at least put in the infrastructure to set that up?