Highway 413 construction to start in 2025

Construction for Ontario's Highway 413 will startnext year, Premier Doug Ford says.

Ford made theannouncement about the highway that would link Halton, Peel and York Regionsin Caledon, Ont., Tuesday morning.

Ford called the highway a "game changer for the region" that would reduce travel times in "one of the most congested corridors in North America."

It's also estimated work on the highway will create 3,500 jobs each year that it's being built, the premiersaid.

"Highway 413 will help meet the needs of our growing province as a prosperity corridor that will create thousands of good-paying union jobs during the construction phase and make life easier and more convenient for millions of drivers in the GTA and across Ontario," Ford said in a statement.

Provincial officials said in a news release that workers are currently doing fieldwork like borehole drilling and engineering to evaluate soil composition and bedrock depth for the construction route.

The provincesaid earlier this month that it hopes to begin construction on the new highway within a year, after reaching an agreement with the federal government preventing a potential court battle.

The deal allows the project to proceed without a full federal environmental impact assessment. News of the agreement was condemned by environmental groups and some of the opposition parties at Queen's Park, who oppose the highway.