TORONTO - Drivers who use Ontario's Highway 407 will be charged higher tolls starting in February.
The rate for light vehicles using most parts of the road during rush hour will jump to 22.95 cents per kilometre, up about seven per cent from 21.35 cents.
Tolls for a lesser-travelled portion of the road between Highway 403 and Highway 401 and between Highway 400 and Highway 404 will be increased to 21.45 cents per kilometre during rush hour, from 20.10 cents.
407 ETR Concession Company Ltd. owns and operates the 108 kilometre east-west highway located north of Toronto. Montreal engineering firm SNC-Lavalin (TSX:SNC) is part of a consortium of companies that owns the road.
The highway says it has budgeted $60 million for new lanes in 2011 and has spent more than $1.2 billion on expanding lanes and maintenance since it took ownership 1999.
"The rate increases definitely go towards the kind of construction and maintenance and our safety record," said 407 spokesman Kevin Sack.
"The tolls are also a way of controlling congestion because our mandate was to relieve congestion on area roads and highways," he said.
