THE PROBLEM:
Ontario is planning Highway 413, a redundant and unnecessary toll highway that would pave over farms and forests and cost taxpayers billions.
Right now Highway 407 (another toll highway) is underused. Yet the province is proposing to build another east-west toll highway just 15 km away.
- A new mega-highway will encourage more sprawl. It’s exactly the opposite of what is needed to develop walkable, transit-friendly communities.
- Building Highway 413 (also known as the GTA West) would cost Ontario taxpayers billions. And it would mean less money is available to invest in public transit.
- Highway 413 would degrade the parts of the Credit River and Humber River watersheds that flow into Lake Ontario – a source of drinking water for millions of GTA residents.
- Highway 413 would be 50 km long and would pave over 2,000 acres of Class 1 and Class 2 farmland – among Ontario’s most productive farmland.
WHAT’S AT RISK:
THE SOLUTION:
Instead of wasting money on a redundant toll highway, Ontario should invest in public transit close to where most people work and live.
- When it comes to moving people, a GO train can do a better and quicker job than a jam-packed highway. One GO train moves 1,670 people.
- Public transit gets more people out of their cars, which reduces traffic and pollution.
- Today, more people want to live in walkable, transit friendly communities rather than be stuck in traffic jams for hours each day.