Highway 407 East Project, Ontario, Canada

The 407 East project will be completed in two phases of construction. Credit: 407 EDG.

Phase one of the project also includes construction of interchanges at Brock Road, Lake Ridge Road, Baldwin Street, Thickson Road, Simcoe Street and Harmony Road. Credit: 407EDG.

Phase two construction will begin in fall 2015 and will be completed by late 2019. Credit: 407EDG.

The final environmental assessment decision for the project was announced by the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA) in July 2011. Credit: 407EDG.

The first phase of the Highway 407 extension from Brock Road to Harmony Road was opened in June 2016. Credit: 407EDG.

Phase two construction of Highway 407 east project will be completed in two portions. Credit: 407EDG.

The total road length in both phases will be 63.94km including 31.33km in phase one and 32.61km in phase two. Credit: 407EDG.

The 407 East Project comprises three highways, namely Highway 407, Highway 412 and Highway 418. The Highway 407 East project is the first publicly owned and controlled toll highway in Ontario, Canada. Although connected to the existing 407 ETR, Highway 407 is a separate entity, owned and operated by the province.

The province will set and regulate tolls, retain the toll revenue and establish high customer service standards.

The project is scheduled to be completed in two segments of construction. The first phase of the project was open to the public in June 2016, while the second phase of construction will be completed by late 2020.

The province of Ontario invested more than $1bn for phase one of the construction and is investing approximately $1.2bn for phase two.

The initial portion of the second phase of Highway 407, from Harmony Road to Taunton Road in Clarington, was opened in January 2018.

Highway 407 East project background

Substantiated by planning studies that identified transportation deficiencies in the region of Durham, Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation initiated a formal Individual Environmental Assessment (IEA) in 2005 to consider alternatives to address long-term transportation needs.

The IEA was conducted in accordance with a ‘terms of reference’, which outlined the process, potential environmental effects and consultation programme. An extensive public consultation was conducted throughout the planning and preliminary design phases to explain the purpose of the undertaking, the alternatives and methods to carry out the undertaking and the recommended design.

The IEA process was documented in 2009 and the recommended transportation corridor consisting of a highway, transitway and transportation support facilities was approved by Ontario’s environment minister in June 2010. The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA) announced the minister’s final environmental assessment decision for the project in July 2011.

Construction phases

In the first phase of development, Highway 407 from Brock Road to Harmony Road (22km), and Highway 412 (10km) being a north-south highway that connects Highway 407 to Highway 401 was completed in 2016.

The second phase will be completed in two portions. The initial portion includes Highway 407 from Harmony Road to Taunton Road / Highway 418. The remainder of phase two that includes Highway 407 to Highway 35 / 115 and Highway 418 from Taunton Road to Highway 401 (33km in total for phase two) will be open to traffic by late 2020, completing the project.

Construction and infrastructure

Phase one of construction on the Highway 407 East Project began in summer 2012 and the section was opened to traffic in June 2016.

Phase one included construction of Highway 407, which is a six-lane east-west highway from Brock Road to Highway 412, and a four-lane east-west highway from Highway 412 to Harmony Road, with the construction of interchanges at Brock Road, Lake Ridge Road, Baldwin Street, Thickson Road, Simcoe Street and Harmony Road.

It also included the construction of Highway 412 being a four-lane north-south highway connecting Highway 407 and Highway 401, and construction of interchanges at Highway 407, Taunton Road, and Highway 401, and partial interchanges at Highway 7 and Dundas Street. Highway 401 was realigned for 2.5km and a new partial Highway 401 partial interchange at Lake Ridge Road was constructed.

Phase two construction began in the third quarter of 2015 and is expected to be completed by 2020. It involves the construction of Highway 407 as a four-lane east-west highway from Harmony Road in Oshawa to Highway 35 / 115 in Clarington, and construction of interchanges at Enfield Road, Regional Road 57, Darlington-Clarke Townline and Highway 35 / 115.

It also includes the construction of Highway 418 being a four-lane north-south highway, connecting Highway 407 and Highway 401, with the construction of interchanges at Highway 407, Highway 2 and Highway 401, and a partial interchange at Taunton Road.

Lead contractors for the Highway 407 East project

The 407 East Development Group (407EDG), a joint-venture consisting of Cintra Infraestructuras and SNC-Lavalin was awarded a contract to design, build, finance, and maintain phase one in May 2012.

Blackbird Infrastructure (BBI) was contracted to design, build, finance and maintain phase two in April 2015.