🚀 go-pugleaf

On 7/25/03 18:56, in article 3F21B5BF.6F4AC78A@yahoo.com, "sparkie"
<sparkie19us@yahoo.com> wrote:

> Jason Cormier wrote:
> 
>> I suspect they will proceed carefully when one considers the massive
>> political mess the 407 has become. This includes....
>> 
>> - cost of construction
>> - lowball sale price to private consortium
>> - tolls rising well beyond previously agreed maximums
>> - punitive late fees that were massively reduced in a recent class action
>> suit
>> - major slowdown of expansion and improvements after being privatised
>> - broken promises to the people of Halton/Hamilton/Niagara after the portion
>> of the 407 west of Mississauga was given tot the 407consortium instead of
>> being an extension of the (free use 403)
>> 
>> Hopefully they will learn from the many mistakes made by the NDP and PC
>> governments on Ontario. I have no problem with toll roads (especially as
>> alterative routes) but they need to be planned and run more thoughtfully
>> than what one has seen with the 407.
> 
> I had not followed the "political mess of the 407".  But I know that it is
> being
> used heavily, and it is a cash-cow for the province.

It is a cash cow for the private consortium that owns the highway. The
auditor who reviewed the sale concluded that it was sold at anywhere from
1/2to 1/3 its true value. Perhaps even less than that with the increased
volume and massive rise in tolls.

> The cars crawl (stop and go)
> during the morning and evening rush 2-3 hours on the provincial highway.
> There is a need to even widen the 407.

There is but the point is that the owners are in no rush to do so.
 
> 403 is heavily used too, but the traffic moves, and is well maintained.

The issue of the 403 is the portion that should have been extended west from
Mississauga but instead belongs to the 407. How is traffic on the QEW to and
from Hamilton during the respective rush hours; it's a nightmare much of the
time. Meanwhile, the 407 along that same stretch is well under capacity.
(The portion of the 407 that is regularly bumper to bumper during rush hour
generally consists of the portion between Mississauga Road to the 404. )

> The idea of the toll road is that, as the other poster "FNO" mentioned, "pay
> as you
> use it".  So the road would be supported by the drivers who use the road, not
> the
> local government nor the additional gas taxes.

I agree completely with this. The debate over the 407 however is that it was
built with taxpayer dollars, sold off at well below market value to a group
with heavy connections to the government (the PCs in this case), and then it
had its rates jacked up well beyond agreed rate increases, with little
improvement since the privatisation.
 
> The voters will decide to keep or remove the politicians in the next election.

With education and health care dominating the debate the past few years, the
407 will be nothing more than a minor issue.