This blog is part of our series outlining what we see as some of the key environmental issues voters should keep in mind as they talk to candidates and when they cast their ballots.
Time and time again, the news has shown that previous provincial governments will put the interests of well-connected developers above the needs of residents and the environment. Highway 413-related bills that claim to cut red tape, reduce gridlock and save you time will do nothing but pave over farms, forests and the Greenbelt – all without any review of the devastating environmental impacts.
Loss of Prime Farmland
Building Highway 413 would pave over 2,000 acres of precious prime farmland and put thousands more at serious risk from new sprawling subdivisions that will inevitably be developed along the route. While Ontario desperately needs more housing, sprawl is the most expensive and inefficient way to build homes.
Paving the Protected Greenbelt
Remember when past leaders promised to not touch the Greenbelt? Well, Highway 413 would also pave over about 400 acres of the southern portion of the Greenbelt – putting precious areas and endangered species at risk.
Compromising the Headwaters of the Credit and Humber Rivers
The proposed route of Highway 413 directly cuts through the headwaters of Etobicoke Creek, and both the Credit and Humber rivers. The paving of the headwaters, combined with the pollution from thousands of vehicles that would use the 6 to 10 lane highway, will degrade water quality and quantity downstream – impacting drinking water and living conditions for many species at risk, including endangered species. Paving the most important headwaters in the Greater Toronto Area also means our increasingly violent rainstorms will result in more flooding every year.
But, we can Stop it
Despite claims that construction of Highway 413 is imminent, nothing could be further from the truth: necessary planning and engineering work has not been completed and most of the land required to build the highway has not been acquired. There are also environmental values that the federal government is legally obligated to protect, like the 29 federally listed species-at-risk that are found where the 413 would be built. Several of these species, including the Redside Dace, Rapids’ Clubtail and Western Chorus Frog, are endangered. Both the federal Fisheries Act and Species at Risk Act mandate the protection of these species and, as a result, a number of permits will be required, which have yet to be secured.
Highway 413 should not be built. Estimates indicate that building this environmentally destructive highway will do little to improve commute times in the region (less than 30 seconds per trip) while it will cost taxpayers easily over $10 billion dollars. That’s a lot of money – and it’s money that should be spent to improve public transit throughout Ontario or improve regional road projects that have been deferred for many years.
We need to elect a government that moves Ontario away from farmland destroying highways that result in inefficient sprawl. What does that mean?
We need leaders who are serious about effective transportation and land use planning solutions in the Greater Toronto Area. Leaders who will:
- Cancel Highway 413 in favour of regional transportation solutions, not a 400-series highway
- Examine how to better solve traffic problems using less costly and environmentally destructive options, such as moving trucks to the underused Highway 407
- Enhance public transportation options, such as two-way on the Kitchener line that services Mount Pleasant, the Brampton Innovation District and Bramalea – while extending the long-awaited GO line in Caledon to South Bolton/Hwy 50 and Macville
We do not need Highway 413. There are better options available to solve traffic congestion while building affordable homes faster and protecting the incredible ecological and farmland values in Halton, Peel, and York regions that would be destroyed forever by this highway.
We can make that happen. We need to tell all party leaders and candidates to cancel Highway 413.
