Mayors pitch Hwy. 400/Hwy. 404 bypass to province

YorkRegion.com
Jan. 29, 2016
Brea Bartholet  

A major imprint of Bradford West Gwillimbury has been left on Queen’s Park following a meeting involving Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca.

Mayor Rob Keffer, joined by Simcoe County Deputy Warden Terry Dowdall, York Region chairperson Wayne Emmerson and mayors from East Gwillimbury, Newmarket, Innisfil, Georgina and Essa Township, spoke to Del Duca for nearly an hour about the importance of the Hwy. 400/404 connecting link.

BWG and surrounding municipalities to the north and east are continuing to push for the link, formerly known as the Bradford Bypass, between the two major highways.

Deeming the meeting as a positive conversation with the minister, Keffer hopes it will kick start a conversation within the provincial government.

“I look forward to continuing our work together toward this critical infrastructure issue. The fact that so many mayors came down to discuss it was rather impressive,” Keffer said.

“We highlighted points related to economic development, especially the employment lands along Hwy. 400 here in Bradford and similar plans for the future in EG.”

The link, which has been a hot topic among not only politicians, but also commuters, would reduce congestion on roadways south of Simcoe County and into York Region while providing a more efficient connection between the two.

“It would certainly alleviate backups in Bradford and would help the travel of trucks east to west heading closer to the north,” Keffer said.

“The amazing thing is that York Region and Simcoe County will be the size of Toronto by 2041, so we need to get the infrastructure in place to prepare for that increase in population.”

Del Duca thanked the group for taking the time to speak to him about the issue and ensured them he would speak to fellow cabinet ministers to get the ball rolling.

Now, they must play the waiting game.

But Keffer is confident that only positive steps will be taken from this point on.

“Hopefully there will be good news for the future. Our area mayors are committed to move this forward and there certainly will be further meetings.”

The group’s goal is to get the provincial government to realize that the project is a necessary addition to the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe.