Markham weighs adding its voice to growing Highway 413 opposition

Deferred motion from Coun. Jim Jones up for debate at council on Dec. 14

Yorkregion.com
Dec. 10, 2021
Heidi Riedner

Count some Markham residents and city councillors among the growing opposition to Highway 413.

A motion against the highway, first tabled by Coun. Jim Jones back in April, will finally make its way to council on Dec. 14 after being deferred again last month amid public outcry that not enough time had been offered for public input with a last-minute addition to the agenda.

The motion calls for a number of things, including a complete federal environmental impact study and an economic evaluation and time-travel analysis of Highway 407 versus the proposed Highway 413, including the potential for congestion and nonpeak hour pricing or other highway management alternatives.

If the proposed Highway 413 does not proceed, it calls for the allocated funding to be redirected to provide for rapid transit in the Regions of York and Peel, such as investment in the 407 Transitway, improved GO service on the Kitchener and Milton lines and a new GO Transit line to Bolton.

Recommendations include a comprehensive economic benefits analysis of the potential for transit-oriented communities (TOC) along the 407 Transitway, GO Transit Rail Network and new LRT/BRT lines versus the cost of urban sprawl triggered by the proposed Highway 413.

An integrated review of the provincial Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe and the Metrolinx Regional Transportation Plan also made the list, including policies to achieve the province’s goal of 50 per cent of all new housing over the next 30 years being within 800 to 1,000 metres of a rapid rail transit station or high-frequency bus transit.

Councillors Karen Rea and Reid McAlpine were among those who said the touted benefits of the highway were "dubious" at best for the province and of "zero value to Markham" on the heels of a presentation by MTO staff to council last month.

Kelly Dunn, who is among many residents that want to see Coun. Jones’ motion passed for several reasons, agrees.

Dunn is not only a Markham resident, but also a nomination contestant for the Ontario Liberal Party in the riding of Markham-Stouffville.

She says climate change is a top concern for nearly everyone she has talked to so far in the riding, regardless of their age, and, in her estimation, people are ready for real action on the issue.

“This includes making real changes in how we approach infrastructure and development,” she says. “People are ready to forego the convenience of a new highway in order to protect our environment.”

In addition, Dunn says, the project isn’t worth the cost.

“We are going to have to build things -- roads, houses, etc. -- but we have to be very careful about the things we choose to build and how we build them. A multi-billion-dollar highway that cuts through top-quality soil, woodlots, agricultural lands and waterways in order to save potentially mere minutes of time is not worth it.”

Dunn also questions how the $6+-billion, 59-kilometre highway that will pave over a couple of thousand acres of farmland and hundreds more acres of Greenbelt will actually save commuters time.

While MTO officials told council the highway will address gridlock on other routes in the region and save commuters 30 minutes each way, an expert panel that reviewed the project three years ago concluded the time savings would actually be just 30 seconds each way.

That was one of the key reasons the Liberal government cancelled the project, concluding it would be too expensive, too environmentally destructive and wouldn’t actually solve congestion problems.

Dunn says all other options should be explored -- namely, increasing truck traffic to the underused Highway 407 -- “before we plow through farmers' fields, put species at risk and potentially damage waterways.”

Dunn says the upcoming vote at council is the city’s chance to demonstrate its leadership on environmental issues by supporting things like transit-oriented development.