GTA traffic is in desperate need of a western transportation network

Thestar.com
August 7, 2018
Dave Wilkes

My work day has me driving across the GTA to attend meetings and I often find myself sitting in traffic on Hwy. 401, going nowhere fast.

I see drivers commuting to work, trucks transporting goods across the region and many like me trying to get to somewhere on time.

In Peel Region alone, $1.8 billion in goods is moved to and from the area on roads and highways every day.

There has been no significant new highway addition to the western part of the GTA since Hwy. 407 nearly 20 years ago. A recent Metrolinx study notes that traffic congestion will cost GTA residents and businesses $7 billion a year by 2031.

Transportation infrastructure is vital to each and every one of us since it links people to where we live, work, shop and play.

Earlier this year, the Ontario government decided -- on the advice of an advisory panel’s recommendation -- not to go forward with the proposed GTA West Corridor. Instead a narrower corridor, approximately one-third of the size of the original analysis area of the environmental assessment, will be protected from development while the province assesses what infrastructure, such as new transit or utilities, will be needed to support the growing region. The land in York, Peel and Halton regions will be protected from development while the assessment takes place.

Where does the cancellation leave the residents of the GTA? The GTA West Corridor was not just a proposed highway. It was a means to unlock both commercial and residential land for development. Its central location, running from Hwy. 400 in Vaughan, across Caledon and Halton Hills, and connecting to Hwys. 401 and 407 in Milton, would have been a relief of the pressure on existing highways.

The economic benefits of the corridor would have been enormous. In Peel Region alone, $1.8 billion in goods is moved to and from the area every day. Furthermore, four in nine jobs in Peel depend on the movement of goods.

The corridor would connect urban growth centres, facilitate the growth of new employment and businesses areas and create greater economic competitiveness. Much of the recent development in the Town of Milton happened around Hwys. 401 and 407. The GTA West Corridor would have had the same economic growth potential, bringing new housing to the GTA that will see its population grow to 9.7 million by 2041. Good development requires adequate infrastructure, such as roads. We need to prepare for the future now.

BILD strongly supports a transportation network like the one the GTA West Corridor would enable. It plays a significant role in sustaining the type of development that is in line with the province’s intensification policies.

During the 2018 provincial election campaign, the new Conservative government made a commitment to revisit the environmental assessment for the GTA West Corridor. It is important for the residents of the GTA that the provincial government make good on this promise.

As the municipal elections approach, we are encouraging voters to visit www.buildforgrowth.ca, and send a message to your local council or mayoral candidate to commit to increase housing supply and affordability for the people of the GTA.