Category Archives for "Highways and Bridges"

Jan 03

Response to Mandate Letter to Minister Alghabra

By Transport Action Ontario | Highways and Bridges , Intercity Rail and Bus , Latest News , Northern Ontario , Southwestern Ontario , Urban Transit

Prime Minister Trudeau released his mandate letters to all cabinet ministers in mid December. Transport Action Ontario has written to Minister of Transport Alghabra providing several critical perspectives on the letter he received. They are

-Full due diligence needed

-Improve transparency/reliability/accountability/communication

-Execution skills and talent are a concern

-Rail offers domestic industrial benefits

-Must account for externalities

The letter can be viewed below.


Aug 20

Greater Golden Horseshoe Transportation Discussion Paper – Comments Submitted

By Transport Action Ontario | Highways and Bridges , Intercity Rail and Bus , Latest News , Urban Transit

In late June, Ontario released its long-awaited Greater Golden Horseshow Transportation Discussion Paper for public comment. Following a situation analysis, it described three visions for 2051: (a) getting people moving on a connected transit system (b) enhancing capacity and performance on congested roads (c) efficiently moving goods across the region. It also provided 7 near-term goals and sample actions.

Transport Action Ontario has provided detailed comments to the Ministry of Transportation on this paper, identifying positives, concern areas, and additional topics to include.

  • TAO supports some of the road infrastructure policies and plans, particularly managed lanes and demand management. However, we feel that there is too much emphasis on construction of new 400-series highways, including the GTA-West corridor, Highway 404 extension and Garden City Skyway twinning. Non-road options are usually a better investment and should either replace or augment new highways.
  • TAO supports the listed ideas for goods movement, but recommends also to work with CN/CP to expand rail corridors or remove constraints where needed to benefit both passenger and freight rail. The cooperation agreements between Metrolinx and CN on the shared-use Halton Sub and on Burlington-Hamilton are good examples.
  • The Plan needs to discuss funding sources to finance these many investments, including parking fees, road pricing, federal cooperation and financing, and providing new revenue tools for municipalities.

Our full submission can be viewed below.

MTO’s discussion paper can be found at: https://www.ontario.ca/page/towards-greater-golden-horseshoe-transportation-plan-discussion-paper

May 05

Pressure Against Highway 413 Continues – Federal Impact Assessment to Occur

By Transport Action Ontario | Highways and Bridges , Latest News

Pressure continues to mount in opposition to Highway 413. May of the municipalities on or near the route have resolved to oppose it. Transport Action Ontario (TAO) made a deputation to Markham Council on May 3 outlining the reasons to oppose this highway. It can be viewed below.

We are pleased to report that Federal Minister of the Environment Jonathan Wilkinson ruled favourably on a request by 8 non-government organizations, including TAO, to designate the Highway 413 project for a federal Impact Assessment (IA). Although the scope of the IA is not yet know, we expect that this will create a “sober second look” at all aspects of the project, including identification of superior alternatives like transit and truck toll subsidies.

Apr 06

Truck Subsidy on 407ETR versus Building Highway 413

By Transport Action Ontario | Highways and Bridges , Latest News

The idea of providing a toll subsidy for trucks on 407ETR during busy hours is being proposed as an alternate to building the GTA West (Highway 413) expressway. An analysis by Transport Action Ontario shows that the costs of such a truck subsidy are less than half the costs of constructing and maintaining Highway 413. Furthermore, due to its better location, 407ETR would also be more useful to truckers, with commensurate benefits to air quality and climate change.

The analysis can be viewed below.

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