Doug Ford’s solution to Highway 401 traffic should not be underground

Ford announces proposal for tunnel under Highway 401 to carry more traffic, Sept. 25
Ontario should do what most other modern countries with big cities have done and go to high-speed electric rail. Look at Beijing, Tokyo, Paris and London. It would help the entire province, not just the 50 kilometres across the top of Toronto, and it helps to solve our emissions problem at the same time. 
Hugh Holland, Huntsville, Ont.
The idea of a Highway 401 tunnel is ludicrous. It can’t be built quickly enough. It won’t be big enough. The cost-benefit analysis will show it was a bad idea before it started. From an engineering perspective, how will entries and exits be done? How will it be ventilated? A better solution to congestion is to move commercial vehicles to Highway 407, and spend the money on health care and social services.
Grant Baines, Uxbridge, Ont.
I remember the Big Dig, when Boston decided to replace a relatively short section of interstate. The effort took 20 years from planning to completion. The cost ballooned to three times the original estimate, and totalled $8.08 billion ($21 billion with inflation today). Traffic was a disaster for over a decade and, as of my most recent visit this summer, traffic is still a disaster. Meanwhile, the tunnels leak. 
John Gavin, Toronto
How many billions of dollars would a tunnel cost? How many years would a tunnel take to dig? Is there not a better way to spend the money a tunnel would cost, like housing, hospital staff or education? Would the tunnel even help congestion? What about the people who don’t drive or own a car? Do they want their tax dollars spent on more roads? We need to let Premier Doug Ford know we won’t stand for him wasting our tax dollars.
Barbara Eckert, Etobicoke
A better idea would be to buy out that sweetheart deal former premier Mike Harris created for Highway 407 and then get rid of the tolls on it. It would certainly be a lot cheaper than spending money on a tunnel!
James Knott, Mississauga
Premier Doug Ford wants to build a tunnel under Highway 401. I wonder how long it will take and how many of us will still be driving when it is completed. Would it not be easier and cheaper to build an elevated roadway above the highway? How many sunken roadways in Toronto flood when we get serious rain, and what is the likelihood that this tunnel roadway will become unusable in bad weather? Let us think carefully before we pull the trigger on this.
Edward A. Collis, Burlington 
I can’t help but wonder whether the Highway 401 tunnel is a smokescreen for some other plot the Conservatives are hatching. If that other plot happens to be a plan to take back Highway 407 then I would fully support it, but only if it becomes toll free. Of course it would soon fill up with cars and trucks just like Highway 401, but at least it is an already existing entity, unlike the pipe-dream of a tunnel that would or should never materialize in my lifetime.
Gerrard Weedon, Toronto
‘Get off your a-s-s:’ Doug Ford scolded for telling homeless people to get jobs, Sept. 24
Premier Doug Ford’s recent comments about people experiencing homelessness are disgraceful. He is implying that those who are not employed do not have jobs due to lack of effort. How sad that our premier adds to the stigma surrounding homelessness. Encampments are not a new phenomenon and are the result of a system that has failed to take care of some of our most vulnerable persons.
Housing is a fundamental determinant of health and a long recognized human right enshrined in Canadian law. The housing crisis significantly undermines individual health and well-being. it also places a huge burden on our health system. People who are unhoused often experience barriers to health care, forcing them to rely on emergency services for care and even for shelter, which causes unnecessary strain on the system.
Rather than looking down on people experiencing homelessness, Ford should be providing more affordable and accessible housing options as well as social services to help them find work and live dignified lives in safe and healthy environments. Ford should make it his duty to take care of all Ontarians, including those living in encampments.
Doris Grinspun, CEO of Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (RNAO)
Is Premier Doug Ford so out of touch that he thinks all people experiencing homelessness are capable of being employed? Many suffer from drug addiction, mental illness and abandonment. Or maybe they simply lost their job and are unable to secure another. Ford says he has experienced this in his own family, but the difference is money and lots of it. What might help those less fortunate is to change their name to Ford and they may be lucky enough to get a job and possibly a cabinet portfolio.
Laurie Johnson, Scarborough
NDP hasn’t ruled out bringing Sarah Jama back into the party for next election, Sept. 25
The interest in reinstating Hamilton Centre MPP Sarah Jama to the NDP caucus is deeply troubling. Her divisive rhetoric and toxic leadership style undermined the unity we desperately need in Ontario. If the NDP aspires to govern our province, they must stand for inclusivity, not reward behaviours that fuel division and distrust. Ontario deserves leaders who build bridges. Allowing Jama back into the fold sends the wrong message about the kind of province we want to be.
J. Solomon Williams, St. Catharines, Ont.
Auston Matthews iffy to face Canadiens after maintenance day, Sept. 25
Watching the first Maple Leaf pre-season game, I quickly realized that I’m in for another year of the same old, same old. I was hoping the league would switch to white as the home uniform colour, just for a change, but that didn’t happen. The announcer still takes ten minutes to announce the previous goal, for reasons I can never figure out. It’s still the same Sportsnet broadcast which is as lame as Seth Meyers’ Trump impression. Of course Mitch Marner will get a mittful of assists, but again, will pull his Claude Rains act in the playoffs while the city actually thinks this team is a Stanley Cup contender? It looks like another year of the same old, same old.
Dave Watson, Pickering, Ont.