Province says no timeline yet for GTA West highway

Bramptonguardian.com
Nov. 15, 2019
Graeme Frisque

Ontario Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney addressed Brampton’s business community on Nov. 12 and gave an update on the status of the GTA West Corridor project.

Otherwise known as Highway 413, the project to build a new highway connecting Highway 400 in Vaughan to Highway 407 near Milton was shelved by the previous Liberal government under former premier Kathleen Wynne in February 2018.

However, the plan was resurrected by the current government under Premier Doug Ford this past June after the province decided to relaunch the environmental assessment needed to move forward with the project.

“We resumed the EA, the environmental process for the GTA West Corridor, and that should be completed by the end of 2022. We don’t have a timeline for the entire project because we have to go through this step first, but it was a promise that we made during the election,” she told those gathered at the Brampton Board of Trade (BBOT) event.

“The GTA West Corridor, we believe is an important piece of transportation infrastructure that’s needed. As you know ... if you live in this region, congestion is increasing, and think by 2031 there will be a million and half more drivers in this area, which is going to add something like 27 more minutes to the commute,” added Mulroney.

Based on data from the City of Mississauga, Canada’s sixth-largest city with a population of 721,599 is expected to grow to 829,000 by 2031. The City of Brampton -- the nation’s ninth-largest city by population -- expects to see its 2016 census population of 593,638 grow to around a million by 2040.

While Mulroney told the audience at the BBOT event that there are currently no plans or funding for a Hurontario LRT extension into downtown Brampton -- which council is advocating for -- she made clear a new highway corridor is a priority of her government.

“(There is) a desperate need to relieve congestion given the population growth expectation and number of cars and trucks that will be on the roads,” she added. “We are moving forward (and) moved expeditiously with the EA, which had been put on hold. We have to go through that process.”