Construction is set to begin next month on the widening of a stretch of Highway 401, from east of McLaughlin Road to east of the Credit River.

Expected to last three years, the project will widen the stretch of highway from its current six-lanes to accommodate 12 lanes, two of which will be for high-occupancy vehicles. The Second Line West Bridge will be removed and replaced with a pedestrian/cyclist bridge.

Described by local MPP Bob Delaney as “like the neck of an hourglass”, the roughly four kilometre stretch of highway is more than just a sore spot for commuters. Businessman and environmentalist Ernie Lynch has worked for three years to try and have the project re-engineered to reflect what he sees as the real problem – road grading.

Lynch, founder of Lynch Fluid Controls in Meadowvale, told The News there’s so much commuter traffic because around the Credit Valley, the highway rises and dips, changing elevation approximately 20 vertical meters. This makes it difficult for drivers to see what’s ahead and as a result they step on the brakes.

In concert with the Peel Goods Movement Task Force, Lynch’s solution to the gridlock is to build a bridge that would level the stretch of highway between Mississauga Road and Mavis Road.

Kwok Wong, Ministry of Transportation (MTO) spokesperson, said staff has reviewed Lynch’s ideas and concluded a viaduct is “not a reasonable alternative to address the needs of highway capacity through this corridor.”

Costs would be upwards of $2 billion to build the bridge, which Wong said is 25 times greater than construction costs and would cost more to repair and rehabilitate in the future.

Wong added, “a level grade would have little benefit to traffic flow when capacity is the issue.

But the up-front costs would pay for itself in future efficiencies, said Lynch.

He estimated with 400,000 trips per day on Highway 401, if just one litre of gas were saved per trip (at the price of $1.40 per litre), it would save $204 million.