Book Description
"If you build It . . ." charts the history of Ontario’s Highway 407, the world’s most technologically advanced toll highway, from its development as a toll road in the early 1990s, through construction and operation by a crown corporation, to its subsequent privatization in 1999 by means of a 99-year lease and its performance thereafter.
The book gives high marks to the Rae government for its handling of the development and contracting phase, and to the crown corporation for delivering the highway close to its original schedule and budget. It is, however, sharply critical of the privatization agreement signed by the Harris Government and suggests alternative approaches that would have better served the public interest. "If you build it . . ." concludes by drawing lessons regarding the management of major technology projects, urban transportation policy, and business-government relations.
