Photo of 401 Highway from the Halton Police
The Ontario Government says it will move forward with building the proposed Highway 413.
It’s a new 400-series highway and transit corridor across Halton, Peel and York regions. In a release, Premier Doug Ford says it will provide relief to to the most congested corridor in North America.
“With Halton, Peel and York regions all set to grow at incredible speed, our government is saying yes to building the roads and highways that will keep these communities moving. Highway 413 will create thousands of jobs while saving commuters hours of gridlock every day. This project is a key part of our plan that’s building Ontario.”
The highway hasn’t gotten over as well as the provincial government would like. In an immediate response, Ontario Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner held a press conference on Wednesday afternoon to announce his displeasure with the decision to carry out construction.
“Let me be clear: Highway 413 is a climate and financial disaster,” Schreiner states. “It needs to be cancelled.”
Schreiner was joined by Laura Campbell, Ontario Green candidate for Dufferin-Caledon, and Jenni Le Forestier, activist and 2021 candidate for the Green Party of Canada.
Schreiner’s Party then provided the following stats:
- More and more local municipalities and communities are coming out against the highway. It is estimated that Highway 413 would pave over 2,000 acres of farmland, 400 acres of the Greenbelt, and cut through 85 waterways while saving commuters just 30 seconds; and,
- according to Environmental Defence, Highway 413 would pump 17.4 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions into the air cumulatively by 2050 — that’s more than the entire City of Toronto emitted in 2018.
“We need to protect nature and build a more livable future for our kids,” says Laura Campbell. “That’s what I hear from the local people in this community. But Doug Ford would rather pave over wetlands and farmland and increase emissions than take meaningful climate action.”
Minister of Transportation for the province, Caroline Mulroney, says the convenience the highway will provide was a major factor in the decision.
“Highway 413 will save drivers up to 30 minutes each way on their commute, adding up to one hour per day and five hours per week in people’s schedules. This relief will be the difference between sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic and having dinner with your family at home. As the population of the GGH surges, the new Highway 413 is an opportunity we cannot pass up. As part of our plan to build Ontario, our government is making historic investments in both public transit and highway infrastructure to get people, goods, and businesses moving.”
When built, Highway 413 will extend from Highway 400 in the east to the Highway 401/407 express toll route (ETR) interchange area in the west and will include a four-to-six-lane 400 series highway, separate infrastructure dedicated for transit and passenger stations, and what the Ford Government calls “intelligent transportation and truck parking.” Preliminary design of the preferred route has begun.
In their release, the province says that construction is expected to support up to 3,500 jobs each year and generate up to $350 million in annual real gross domestic product (GDP).
In May, the federal government told the CBC that it will do its own environmental assessment on the project. Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said at the time that there was “significant concern around the number of federally-listed species at risk, and the potential impact on their critical habitat.”
A timeline for the project was not provided by the Ontario government.
