This comment pertains to ERO…

This comment pertains to ERO No. 019-9266.

With respect to building highways (Schedule 2 and 3), my concern is that the activity/ies will be exempt from the Environmental Assessment Act. This exemption is not in the best interest of Ontarians. For example, not considering all alternatives may not take into account the under utilization of existing Highway 40. If Highway 407 was utilized at capacity, Highway 413 may not be required thus negating the need to remove farmland from productive use as well as saving taxpayers considerable sums of money. Additionally, assuming that there is a genuine need for Highway 413, limiting the environmental impacts to just those of the highway, and ignoring the additional development that this highway will undoubtedly cause, will have significant impacts beyond the study area, for example stormwater runoff surges downstream of the study area (see Valencia, Spain for further details of the consequences of not planning for this scenario).

With respect to the Highway Traffic Act (Schedule 4), the focus of the review of bicycle lanes should be broadened to include parameters other than traffic flow. At a minimum the review should include: (a) collision and fatality statistics, (b) actual (for existing bike lanes) or projected (for proposed bike lanes) share of transportation mode of bicycles, (c) consequenes of removing or not building bicycle lanes on traffic flow if the modal share of bicycle transport is switched to motorized vehicles and (d) in the case of removal of bicycle lanes, whether equivalent bicycle infrastructure already exists, in reasonable proximity, to provide an alternate route.

Thank you, in advance, for acting on these comments.