‘Air pollution has no borders’: Protesters fight against Bradford Bypass, Hwy. 413

Thestar.ca
Nov. 15, 2021
Amanda Persico

Residents took to the streets to protest the building of the Bradford Bypass and Hwy 413 in Vaughan.

Local residents held up signs reading ‘Greenbelt, not asphalt’, ‘Our children deserve a healthy Ontario’, and ‘No highways. We need farmland, forests and wetlands’ outside Minister of Transportation, MPP Caroline Mulroney’s office.

'Greenbelt, not Asphalt' day of action protests were also held simultaneously in King Township outside Education Minister MPP Steven Lecce’s office, in downtown Bolton and outside Mississauga east -- Cooksville MPP Kaleed Rasheed’s office.

The proposed Bradford Bypass is a 16.2 kilometre, four-lane highway that will connect Highways 400 and 404 between 8th and 9th lines in Bradford West Gwillimbury and Queensville Sideroad and Holborn Road in East Gwillimbury.

Impacts of the bypass will be felt far and wide, regardless of where you live, said environmental and health scientist Mary-Jane Hanley.

“It doesn’t matter where you live,” said the Georgina resident.

Hanley spent years studying how emissions from cars and trucks move through the environment. More than a third of greenhouse gases can be attributed to transportation and there’s a strong connection between health issues and highways from heart attacks and asthma, she added.

“Air pollution has no borders. A highway that cuts through farmlands and wetlands is only increasing the climate crisis. Listen to the science.”

“Our population is increasing. We need food, we need farmland. We don’t need more pollution.”

Along with concerns over air pollution and emissions, Hanley is also worried about the amount of salt runoff into the Lake Simcoe watershed.

“All the road salt will end up in Lake Simcoe,” she said. “Salt kills the waterways. There’s already problem with phosphorus. The Bradford Bypass will only add and add to the problem.”

With all the science, the province is still pushing forward with its outdated plan, said Rescue Lake Simcoe Coalition executive director Claire Malcolmson.

“The Holland Marsh is provincially significant lands and is supposed to be protected by the province,” she said. “We can’t throw Lake Simcoe under the bus because of traffic jams.”

According to the Bradford Bypass project website, the proposed highway will cross about 10.75 hectares of the entire provincially significant wetland area, which consists of more than 3,000 hectares.

Building the Bradford Bypass is part of the province’s long-term infrastructure and economic plan and is a key part in the province’s post-pandemic recovery plan, adding on average about 700 new jobs during construction.

“I don’t buy building highways is part of COVID-19 recovery,” Malcolmson added.

“Healthcare and our education system need COVID-19 recovery money.”

There is an emphasis on development and highways such as the 413 and Bradford Bypass only encourage urban sprawl, said Newmarket resident Diane Stevens.

“It’s development at the cost of agricultural lands,” said Stevens, waving a ‘Stop, caution and green’ protest sign.

“Paving over agricultural land doesn’t make sense. The province needs to think further into the future.”

And no one is talking about what the bypass will do to the lower landing site in East Gwillimbury, a historically significant archeological site, said Paul Jafine, who is with local organization Forbid Roads Over Greenspaces.

“This is in the top five per cent of significant historical and archeological sites in Canada,” Jafine said. “It’s a sacred First Nations site that should never be destroyed. This land hasn’t been disrupted for hundreds of years.

Jafine equated the proposed bridges required to pass over two branches of the Holland River to the Gardner Expressway in Toronto.

“The province wants to build monstrous bridges through marshland and wetlands,” he said. “The noise will broadcast for miles.”

When it comes to Hwy. 413, residents are already well-served through Highways 407, 427 and 400, said Vaughan residents Irene Ford during the protest. Not to mention, Hwy 407 is underutilized, she added.

“The province has said they will build it no matter what,” Ford said. “It’s just more of the same.”