What makes a tunnel more attractive than a bridge? Why not an elevated accomplishment rather than a buried one?
Ontario has some good bridges - excellent for tourism. Take a look through them HERE. This is a Tripadvisor overview.
But Ontario doesn't have a lot of terrain that makes for grand bridges. Except for Niagara Falls. The Niagara River boasts some beautiful bridges. I was on a garden tour one year and the house was on the River Road, and I turned around and looked towards Niagara Falls and saw the Lewiston bridge in the distance. What a beautiful sight.
We are minor in comparison to the longest bridge in the world. it is the Danyang–Kunshan Grand Bridge of the Beijing–Shanghai High-Speed Railway. It is 164,800 metres long and is a viaduct. It is for high-speed rail. Isn't that over 164 kilometres long? That makes it the longest bridge in the world. A bridge the length of the 401 "tunnel" is only 51 kilometres. Would it even make the list of long bridges?
So what about a feasibility study for bridge vs tunnel. Somehow a bridge or a tunnel - both studies seem like a consulting boondoggle. Tens of millions of dollars poured into a study. Not an actual build-something boondoggle which is tens of billions (probably hundreds of billions knowing our estimating skills in Ontario) of dollars. Could that be what it is? Some friends of Doug Ford are in the feasibility study consulting business and this would be build their retirement fund?
If I were a journalist, I might travel down that path - following the money is a good route. There are a number of tunnel feasibility consultants that could be looked into. Any of the Metrolinx shortlist companies for tunnelling on the Scarborough Subway and Eglinton Crosstown extensions might be the candidates.
Maybe there's another angle to track. Quite a different one. What if this is a prelude to Doug Ford buying back the 407? I expect there will be more headlines on this topic shortly.
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