GTA West advisory panel - Getting outside help

NRU
June 1, 2016
By Geordie Gordon

The province of Ontario is establishing an advisory panel to assist in its review of the GTA West Highway Corridor project. The province announced it was pausing the environment assessment for the project in December 2015.

The advisory panel, established by an order in council April 20, consists of up to four members, including a chair. The members of the panel will be appointed by Minister of Transportation Steven Del Duca, who will also define the terms of reference for the panel.

Environmental Defence executive director Tim Gray told NRU the group was expecting the province to appoint someone to review the highway project, but had yet to hear the details of the review. Environmental Defence has called on the province to cancel the planned highway that would run from Highway 400 between Kirby Road and King Vaughan Road to the Highway 401/407 ETR interchange.

Gray said that while he thinks the province has enough information to make a decision on the GTA West corridor right now, it is a good sign that it is appointing an independent committee to review the need for the highway.

“Given where [the province] wants to go with the Growth Plan and the Greenbelt Plan, and their next stage of course is the Big Move review ... given that [it is] moving to denser cities, [with] transit attached to growth areas, does it make sense to be building yet another ring road around the GTHA?” he asked.

The panel, which Gray suggested could be headed by a transportation expert, would provide the province with a basis to make the go or no go decision on the corridor. However, because the panel is only just getting started, it would likely mean that the timeline for the review announced by the province might need to be revised. When announcing the suspension of the environmental assessment, the Ministry of Transportation indicated that the project would be “reviewed and an update will be provided in spring 2016.” Gray speculated that now a decision might be made by the fall at the earliest.

Transportation ministry spokesperson Bob Nichols told NRU in an email that work has begun and the panel has been asked to assess “the alternatives to meeting future transportation demand and transportation infrastructure needs.” The ministry wants to ensure that the project continues to align “with recent changes in government policy and emerging technologies.”

While the timeline for the panel’s advice was not provided by MTO, according to the order in council, the panel can operate for a maximum of one year.

Caledon mayor Allan Thompson, told NRU through his executive assistant Sandra Sharpe, that during a May 2 meeting with Del Duca, the minister indicated that the government would be making a decision concerning the future of the GTA West corridor in concert with the coordinated review of the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe, the Greenbelt Plan, the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan and the Niagara Escarpment Plan. Thompson said there was no indication from the minister who might be appointed to the advisory panel.