The government of the day wanted the political "win" of claiming a balanced budget. That it would cost the residents many, many multiples over the years wasn't

The government of the day wanted the political "win" of claiming a balanced budget. That it would cost the residents many, many multiples over the years wasn't considered important. I should add another important point about the 407 -- the route was chosen to be a traffic release, and an industrial corridor. Because of the very high toll roads it has become essentially an "executive" highway ($41+ one way trips), and the trucks and other traffic it was supposed to offload clog up the existing highways. The public benefit has been completely destroyed because the highway has been re-purposed for private benefit. It is a debacle from top to bottom. But for one brief moment a government could claim a balanced budget (though they were actually $10B in the red).