Ford government not considering Brampton's request for alternative to Highway 413 through city, MPP says

Bramptonguardian.com
Jan. 24, 2022

It appears the Ontario government has decided against Brampton council’s request for a boulevard running through the city instead of the planned stretch of Highway 413.

In November of last year, Premier Doug Ford confirmed the province’s plans to move ahead with the Highway 413 project -- otherwise known as the GTA West Corridor -- which will connect Highway 400 in Vaughan to Highways 401 and 407 near the border between Peel and Halton regions.

The new highway would pass through the northwest corner of Brampton, where the city is planning a whole new neighbourhood called Heritage Heights.

While confirming its intention to move forward with the GTA West Corridor late last year, the Ford government first tabled the idea and resumed environmental studies in 2019.

In response, council received a staff report in 2020 regarding the Heritage Heights expansion outlining two scenarios. One scenario included a 400-series highway through the area and another with a boulevard in its place. Council subsequently passed a motion to send a letter to the provincial government asking the Ministry of Transportation to consider the latter option.

However, Brampton South MPP Prabmeet Sarkaria said the government won’t be entertaining that idea.

“This will be a 400-series highway,” he said in an interview. “I appreciate the council’s views on this project, but for us (we want to) make this a highway that will serve one of the fastest growing regions in North America. We’re committed to making this a 400-series highway.”

The GTA West Corridor was first proposed in 2002 with studies and planning continuing until 2017 when the previous Ontario Liberal government under then-premier Kathleen Wynne axed the project.

Environmental groups and advocates applauded the decision to kill the project at the time and continue advocating against the planned 59-kilometre highway. They aren’t alone, with some Brampton city councillors also voicing their opposition to the project.

While the proposed highway has drawn the ire of environmental groups and some resident and elected municipal officials along the proposed route, Brampton’s business community has been advocating for the GTA West Corridor for years and is pleased with the decision to revive it.

“Highway 413 is a necessity. It is a solution that provides more choice for commuters, ensures that food, medicines and goods get to local stores and our export products to world markets,” Brampton Board of Trade president Todd Letts said in a 2021 study by the Residential and Civil Construction Alliance of Ontario.

Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown, who originally applauded the government’s decision to reboot the highway project in 2019, told the Brampton Guardian that the provincial government hasn’t told city council that the boulevard option is off the table and that he and council will continue to advocate for it.

“Until … the province responds to our letter and says that it’s not on the table, I think it would be premature for us to make another decision,” Brown said in an interview at the end of December.

According to Sarkaria, however, the new highway is a major part of the Progressive Conservative party’s platform ahead on the upcoming provincial election in June, and said he believes the highway is necessary to alleviate congestion on Highway 401, which is among the busiest highways on the continent.

“One of the things I hear about the most in the community is the amount of gridlock Bramptonians have to face. When you look at it across many (regions), across Halton, Peel (and) York regions, I think the Highway 413 is going to bring relief to the most congested corridor in North America,” he said.