Ministry falls short on Hwy. 404 upgrades, York Region council says

Yorkregion.com
Nov. 19, 2015
By Lisa Queen

On the heels of a report showing York Region workers have the longest commute times in the Greater Toronto Area, regional officials are complaining the province is failing to consider the full needs of drivers on Hwy. 404.

Regional chairman Wayne Emmerson and the mayors of municipalities along the highway are writing letters to Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca urging the province not leave out what they call key improvements to the 404.

The Ministry of Transportation is undertaking a class environmental assessment study for the highway from Hwy. 407 to Green Lane.

Recommendations include:

• Widening the highway to provide an high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane in each direction from the 407 to Green Lane in the existing grass median;
• Adding ramps to and from the north at Mulock Drive in Newmarket;
• Reconfiguring the northbound ramps at 16th Avenue, which would be dependent on the closure and redevelopment of Buttonville Airport;
• Adding a new commuter parking lot at the southwest quadrant of the Major Mackenzie Drive interchange;
• Providing full lighting from the 407 to Green Lane.

While regional officials praised the proposed improvements and acknowledged last year’s $87 million, 13-kilometre, four-lane extension of the 404 from Green Lane To Ravenshoe Road, they said the ministry is failing to include important upgrades.

For example, the ministry is not considering building new interchanges at 19th Avenue and St. John’s Sideroad, providing ramp extensions at Hwy. 7, Major Mackenzie and Elgin Mills Road or protecting land for additional commuter parking lots.

Stephen Collins, the region’s director of infrastructure management and the project management office, said.

“These are not pieces of infrastructure that we believe are sort of a ‘nice to have’ as part of the ministry study as they are going through it,” he said.

“When we think about what this means to us, it is really most notably the ministry is going through and planning the improvements for the entire 404 that they believe are required to 2031. We believe there is a significant gap between what they’re recommending and what we believe is required and the missed opportunity here is not fully collaborating and not having a comprehensive transportation study that takes a look at all of the needs, getting all of the environmental act clearance and approvals required at the one time, having all of the engagement with the public and the community happening all at one time about the full sweep of options that are needed.”

The ministry isn’t precluding the region or municipalities from doing the improvements themselves in the future, Collins said.

Ministry communications coordinator Astrid Poei agreed.

“Improvements such as new interchanges, ramp extensions, expansion of crossing road structures and protection for commuter lots to accommodate local transit are municipal initiatives, subject to municipal Class EA requirements and were not included in the Hwy. 404 Class EA study,” she said in an email.

“The Class EA study does not preclude future municipal initiatives through the highway corridor. The ministry will continue to work with the municipality on future municipal initiatives to ensure ministry requirements are addressed.”

But that has left York politicians frustrated, saying commuters will lose out if the ministry doesn’t consider their needs.

“They are going to see a major construction project completed by 2019 missing very key and logical improvements to a highway that could be better utilized. I really take this as a very serious matter,” Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti said.

“We have to make it very clear, while this (the ministry’s plan to improve the 404) is very positive,  it’s a great step the MTO is moving forward on, this project (without the improvements the region wants) will create a lot of frustration ... If we don’t do this, I think we’re letting the public down in York Region.”

If the ministry doesn’t bend, the region should consider possibly launching an objection through the EA process, Scarpitti said.

“To undertake this level of improvement and to totally ignore what has been put on the table here and what our response has been is really, it’s window dressing,” he said.

Emmerson agreed the region may have to think about objecting through the EA process.

“We will just keep pushing at it. It’s not over yet,” he said.

Aurora Mayor Geoff Dawe agreed the region has to get the ministry to take its concerns seriously.

“How do we push this forward with the ministry? How do we get it on their radar?” he said.