The Ontario government says design work on Highway 413 is now 90 percent complete.

The news means that the province now has greater certainty on the preferred alignment of the highway. It has now identified 113 full and 57 partial properties that are not required for building the highway, and will release the remaining land in the new year.

“Our government is standing up for drivers by building the highways we need to tackle gridlock and keep people moving,” said Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria. “By completing 90 percent of the design work on Highway 413, we’ve taken a big step towards getting this critical highway project built and are now able to speed up the release of property to owners.”

Ontario has determined the design of all major structures, interchanges and crossings. Identifying the preferred alignment of the highway means the province can begin releasing unneeded land back to owners for farming, residential, business and other uses.

The announcement comes as a new report from the Canadian Centre for Economic Analysis finds gridlock in Ontario is significantly impacting commuters’ quality of life and costing the economy $56 billion a year, further emphasizing the need to move forward on critical highway and road infrastructure projects including Highway 413.

Last month, the Reducing Gridlock, Saving You Time Act received Royal Assent, allowing the province to accelerate construction of Highway 413, Bradford Bypass and the Garden City Skyway Bridge Twinning project, as well as create an accelerated process for the assessment of environmental impacts on Highway 413.

During construction, Highway 413 is expected to contribute $350 million to the province’s GDP every year.

The road will run from Highway 400 in the east to Highway 401/407 interchange in the west, connecting the regions of York, Peel and Halton.

The province is currently undertaking fieldwork, including borehole drilling and engineering, to evaluate soil composition and bedrock depth and expects shovels in the ground with construction beginning in 2025.