Wellington-Halton Hills MPP Ted Arnott is calling upon the provincial Liberal government to immediately suspend the GTA West Corridor Study.
“Our community’s opposition to the [Dalton] McGuinty Liberals’ GTA West corridor study continues to gain momentum,” Arnott said. “I have listened and taken action, supporting town council’s position that ‘Alternative 4-3’ is not in the best interests of Halton Hills.”
Arnott said in an interview on the weekend that alternative would basically cut the community of Halton Hills in half and that the local government is strongly opposed to it becoming the chosen route.
The alternative makes a number of assumptions, according to the MTO’s study. “By 2031, the population in the Greater Golden Horseshoe is expected to increase by almost four million people. To accommodate this growth, the study team anticipates that by 2031:
– The land use intensification targets prescribed in the growth plan will be fully achieved.
– urban growth centres will be built with transit supportive densities and a mix of compatible land uses.
– the development of compact, vibrant and complete communities will be fostered in which people will live, work and play.
– an additional 700 million transit trips within the Greater Toronto and Hamilton area will be accommodated annually.
– all current provincial transportation plans such as RTP and GO 2020 will be implemented.
– more commuters will switch from single occupant cars to transit and carpools.
– a significant share of goods transport will be diverted from long distance trucks to other modes.
– The existing transportation infrastructure will be optimized …
– more non-road based infrastructure … initiatives will be implemented, along with additional related initiatives.
“Based on the above, the potential of all transportation modes are assumed to be realized and together with the RTP and GO Transit’s GO 2020 strategic plan, it is assumed that the province will have maximized the existing infrastructure to its fullest potential by 2031.”
The section continued, “Notwithstanding these positive improvements, by the year 2031, significant roadway congestion will still exist, particularly on Highways 401, 400, 427 and 410 in the GTA West study area.
The section also states that to “achieve the vision of a functional transportation network that provides user choice and balance, additional roadway capacity will be required; either by widening existing roads and-or highways and-or introducing new transportation corridors.”
“If [Minister of Transportation] Kathleen Wynne thinks she can stop the Niagara-to-GTA corridor through Niagara Region, but ignore our people, she is in for a wake-up call,” Arnott said.
He said he believes the Liberals are playing politics with road building. He noted that in the Niagara Region, local government supported the proposals for a new highway corridor, but now the government is backing away from that in the hope of picking up electoral support there from citizens who were opposed to it.
Arnott said, “It is becoming increasingly likely that Minister of Transportation Kathleen Wynne will remain in that post soon after the Oct. 6 provincial election.
“Even if the Liberals are somehow re-elected, you could expect a significant cabinet shuffle, and the average tenure of recent Ministers of Transportation has been quite short,” he said. “It’s not like it was in Jim Snow’s day.”
Arnott said it would be prudent for the government to put the GTA West corridor study on hold, pending a comprehensive review of the province’s transportation priorities. That would allow a new minister to take a fresh look at the practicality, feasibility, affordability, and environmental impact of the proposals after the election, particularly, Alternative 4-3.
