Long before the Ford government scrapped a “developer-proposed” realignment of Highway 413, the premier was warned that rerouting the expressway would lead to significant delays and a cascading impact on other nearby projects.

A confidential government briefing, obtained by Global News, outlines a major alteration to the highway’s current route in Caledon to avoid two properties that are currently slated for housing development.

To accommodate those properties, owned by developer Nick Cortellucci, the government considered realigning the highway up to 600 metres and moving or eliminating the Chinguacousy Road interchange altogether.

“As is standard practice in the development of major government infrastructure projects, this proposal — along with others submitted by municipal officials, landowners, utility companies, and the public — was brought forward for review by our engineering and technical teams,” a government spokesperson said in a statement.

A digital map of the proposed alteration was laid out in an official Government of Ontario slide deck — part of a briefing presentation for the premier — and included the new route drawn in red, along with a legend that called it a “developer proposed realignment.”

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The same briefing document came with multiple warnings that changing the route, which has been studied since 2002, would require additional “evaluation, fieldwork, consultation and preliminary design” work that would set the highway back by at least one year.

Any late-stage decision to realign the highway, according to the document, would have triggered a review of the “overall project phasing strategy” and would have required legislative changes to the Highway 413 act since the “new route is outside of the defined study area.”

Shifting the highway would have also impacted other road construction projects, housing developments, regional utility projects and even energy infrastructure planned for the area — triggering a divide within government over the long-term consequences and potential derailing of Ford’s signature project.

Among the items that would have been impacted:

• Highway 10: Early works construction contracts on the Highway 10 underpass and road resurfacing would be impacted
• Highway 410: Construction to extend Hwy. 410 to connect to the 413 would be “delayed up to two years”
• Local roads: Advance construction on Kennedy, Dixie and Old School roads would be “delayed up to two years”
• Peel Region: Three Peel utility projects would be delayed which, in turn, would “delay housing starts” in the area
• Energy corridor: The North West GTA Transmission Corridor, which is slated to run parallel to the 413 in Caledon, would require “review and possible redesign.”

While it’s unclear what changed and when, the premier’s office told Global News the plan is no longer under consideration.

“There are no anticipated changes to the previously approved highway alignment, of which 90 per cent of the construction design work is complete, with all major structures, interchanges and crossings determined,” a spokesperson said.

Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles said the process and consideration raised questions about who could influence the premier.

“Communities calling for real infrastructure investments are brushed aside. But when a well-connected friend asks, the Premier is ready to move mountains — or highways,” she said in a statement.

“This latest revelation raises serious questions about the motivations behind this government’s multi-billion-dollar decisions. Ontarians deserve to know if the premier is wasting their hard-earned tax dollars on developer favours and pet projects.”

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