The Ontario government is getting back into the toll road business when it extends Highway 407 eastward to Highway 35/115 at Clarington.
Service on the road will begin in 2013. Construction of the extension will create 24,000 jobs, the province announced in a news release issued Tuesday.
The province originally constructed owned the 407 toll road, which currently ends at Brock Road in Pickering. It begins at the junction of the Queen Elizabeth Way and Highway 403 in Burlington.
However, the Progressive Conservative government of Mike Harris privatized the toll route in 1999.
"The province will be responsible for regulating tolls on the highway and meeting customer service needs," the government said Tuesday in its release.
"Revenues generated from the highway will go towards the construction costs and maintenance of the road, freeing up provincial funds for transit infrastructure projects."
An environment assessment study will be presented to the provincial Environment ministry later this summer, with a request for proposals following shortly after.
Construction can begin after environmental approval is given.
The government said the proposed highway right-of-way will "contain space for a future transitway."
