New transportation investments

NRU
April 16, 2014

The provincial government recently announced its new plan, Moving Ontario Forward, for building and improving public transit and transportation infrastructure in Ontario. Th e plan’s $29-billion in funding is to be split into two separate funds: $15-billion allocated for the GTA and $14-billion for the rest of the province.

The funding sources include the harmonized sales tax, existing gas tax and proceeds from the Green Bonds program.

Being touted as a possible project under the new funding allocation, the province released a request for proposals yesterday for the second phase of the Highway 407 East project, which will extend the highway about 22 kilometres eastward from Harmony Road in Oshawa to Highway 35/115 in Clarington. It will have eight interchanges and a 10-kilometre northsouth highway, the East Durham Link, to connect it to Highway 401. The section from Harmony Road to the East Durham Link is expected to be open to traffic in late 2017, with the remaining portions to be completed by late 2020, according to the media release.

Transportation minister Glen Murray also announced that the provincial government will provide $25-million over the next three years for cycling infrastructure. The funding is for biking pilot projects and a new policy is anticipated regarding highways whereby cycling will be automatically incorporated into the roadway.