Disappointed at this…

Disappointed at this proposed legislation. It is a backwards looking proposal that is only pushing us towards more personal vehicle dependency at a time when the province should be looking ahead to the future where people will have more transportation options and we can start to lower our environmental impact and leave the road capacity to those who really need it and the vital freight volumes that keep our province functioning.

The removal of due processes for both expropriation and environmental assessment in order to push ahead highway 413 appears to be simply a way to advance a project where the impacts are not properly understood the the benefits have been shown to be minimal at best. While I appose the highway overall as simply a project that will increase the amount and distance that people are forced to drive (induced demand making it clear that no one will be saving time overall and the highway will quickly become congested) but, once built, the highway will only encourage more sprawl and the poor provincial/city planning that has made us so alarmingly car dependent in the first place.

Even despite my scepticism of highway 413, at least I could have felt some reassurance that it was going through the standard processes required for a project of this magnitude. The Environmental Assessment states "The purpose of this Act is the betterment of the people of the whole or any part of Ontario by providing for the protection, conservation and wise management in Ontario of the environment." I cannot understand why the Province feels that it would be appropriate to exempt a project of this significance and magnitude from the key provisions that are in place to ensure that infrastructure that will possibly have centuries of impacts to the environment, some impossible to be reversed, do not have adverse impacts that generations down the line will be paying for.

Similarly, the proposed exceptions to the Expropriation Act for the purposes of building this highway (and broadband technologies) undermine the public's trust that the government is operating in good faith in these processes and is acting appropriately.

On the subject of the proposed changes to the Highway Traffic Act, as an engineer and a road safety professional, I find it alarming that our government would propose legislation that will inevitably lead to an increase in preventable injuries and death. It is well known and has been demonstrated in jurisdictions across Ontario, Canada and the world that separated cycling infrastructure leads to improved safety outcomes for all road users. Historically, municipalities have made decisions on how to assign right-of-way to the various road users in order to ensure an official and safe road network and they continue to be best-positioned to make these decisions.

Needless to say, I full-throatedly oppose the unnecessary expenditures and negative outcomes associated with the removal of currently installed bike lanes in the City of Toronto. The Province has not demonstrated any sort of indication that this decision was made with sound judgement or with any data to support it. The removals proposed in the legislation do not appear to be supported by any professional association as a sound decision. Organizations such as the Ontario Society of Professional Engineers, the Ontario Traffic Council the Ontario Professional Planners Institute, as well as many advocacy groups and disability communities have all written formal opposition messages to the proposed changes to the HTA.

Despite the Provinces efforts, personal vehicle travel will continue to become more and more expensive and a greater financial and environmental burden on society. This is why it's so important to move beyond the mistakes of the past to a province where people can choose to leave the car at home to make most of their trips during the day. Helping people live close to work and the resources they need daily will make active transportation and transit more and more attractive. This is where the province should be dedicating it's efforts instead of building highways and trying to add more lanes where they will not offer any relief. While I know that submitting this comment is in vain and these changes will be enacted to the determent of the Province for generations to come, I can only humbly submit this comment in the hope that cooler heads prevail and some more thought is given before these proposals which will have far-reaching impacts are approved. Thank you for your time.