Please accept my comments on…

Please accept my comments on the proposed regulation for a streamlined environmental assessment process for the Ministry of Transportation’s GTA West transportation corridor project. I have also sent an email to my local representative and relevant Ministers on these comments.
I am firmly opposed to the proposal to exempt the GTA West highway from a full and thorough environmental assessment, and instead move to a shorter streamlined assessment. This proposal has been presented as an economic recovery measure, but will instead lock Ontario into a more polluted, less healthy future, rip through the Greenbelt, forests, and prime farmland, and waste billions of taxpayer dollars which could be spent on more effective transportation solutions for residents in the GTA West corridor. Lastly, Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO) suppose to provide for the efficient movement of people and goods. Providing a highway for passenger vehicles is the least efficient use of space to move people. Freight and passenger rail are much more efficient, less polluting, and cheaper for moving goods and people.

Here are the main reasons for my opposition:
1. The highway will destroy important green spaces and prime farmland. The proposal to start with ‘early works’ like bridges is a huge problem - bridges would be built where the highway crosses streams, rivers, and other sensitive natural features. These sensitive areas are exactly the types of environments that need a full and thorough environmental assessment.
2. Experts have already determined that we don’t need this highway, and the $4-6 billion in taxpayer dollars needed to build it would be better spent on alternatives. An expert panel appointed by the provincial government determined in 2017 that the proposed Highway 413 would save drivers a mere 30-60 seconds per trip.
3. People who live along the highway route will breathe dirtier air and suffer health impacts. Our recent modeling estimated that pollution from traffic causes almost 900 premature deaths per year in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA). Peel Region is already a hotspot for air pollution from vehicles, and that this pollution is worst near highways and interchanges. People who live close to highways suffer greater health impacts from air pollution, and will experience higher risk of diseases like asthma, lung cancer, childhood bronchitis, and other cardiovascular issues. The province should carry out a Health Impact Assessment to determine the health impacts of Highway 413.
4. Building Highway 413 will mean more greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles as traffic increases to fill the available space (a phenomenon known as “induced demand”). Increasing carbon pollution from transportation will move Ontario farther away from meeting its climate change goals.
5. The Province needs to take time to consider investing in alternatives to Highway 413. A better use of stimulus money would be to spend on public transit, cycling infrastructure, and goods movement solutions like giving trucks priority on Highway 407, as suggested by the Province’s expert panel. These would all create jobs and move people effectively in the region. The Province should also examine the need for increased highway capacity as commuting patterns change due to the pandemic.
6. Brampton doesn’t want the highway. The 413 would go through one of the last undeveloped parts of Brampton. But, instead of a highway, Brampton City Council approved a plan to create a walkable, cycleable, 20-minute community based around a boulevard. Brampton already knows from the experience of the 410 that highways divide communities. And they don’t want another one.
We face a critical choice with Highway 413. Do we sink $6 billion of taxpayer money into highway infrastructure that may become obsolete due to rapid changes in transportation like shared mobility or more people working from home, or do we instead invest in better options that set us up for the future?

We have an opportunity to cut air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, improve commutes, and protect important green spaces by saying no to Highway 413 and backing the alternatives. Let’s listen to the evidence we have and take the time to build back better.