Long before Premier Doug Ford championed the idea of a tunnel under Highway 401, the City of Toronto briefly considered a near-identical proposal from a Canadian engineering firm — one that would have seen twin tunnels under the Gardiner Expressway to relieve congestion.

The proposal, obtained by Global News through freedom of information laws, outlined plans for one tunnel between Jameson Avenue and Cherry Street and a second tunnel connecting Front Street and Spadina Avenue to Exhibition Place.

The pitch, which was first made by John Beck, then-CEO of construction firm Aecon, in 2015, was formalized two years later and presented to then-mayor John Tory and senior staff.

While the idea was later dropped, Tory’s office appeared to be seriously weighing the project and pushed a Toronto

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