Escarpment highway: Was that letter from the government really a Christmas gift? It could well be a piece of coal in our stocking.

By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON December 21, 2012  The letter said:

At this time, the preferred highway expansion options include:

Widening existing highways in the Hamilton to Halton area

Widening the QEW in the Hamilton to St. Catharines area to eight lanes

A new highway corridor south of Welland, connecting Highway 406 to the QEW near Fort Erie

No mention of a road through the Escarpment in those options.

The comments were in a letter from Bob Chiarelli, Minister of Transportation for the province sent to every Mayor from St. Catharines through to Oakville and all the required bureaucrats as well.

The letter brings to an end, for now, any provincial government plans to ram a highway across the Escarpment.  Burlington residents appear to have succeeded in convincing the provincial government that a highway should not be built on the Escarpment.

That of course does not mean the provincial government will not at some point return to the idea but for now it is reasonably safe to say – no road on the Escarpment.  The public groups opposed to any highway think they are finally being listened to – the letter the Minister of Transportation sent to all the municipalities was also sent to the citizen`s groups, which hasn’t happened in the past.

The provincial government is in the final part of Phase 1 of their Environmental Assessment that was expected to come to a conclusion early in 2013.

This has been a long battle for Burlington.  The current council had just been sworn in December 2010,when they were advised that the province had plans for a road that would cut through the communities of Kilbride and Lowville.

Burlington called two public meetings that packed the Mainway community centre – the sentiment that there be no highway was consistently strong.   The Region has always been onside as well.

It is however, not over.  Don’t forget that the current provincial government is a minority one and they would very much like to have a majority – and that means first getting to the point where they can justify calling an election and then winning that election.

There are close to half a dozen people scurrying around the province seeking the leadership of the Liberal Party in Ontario.  Two have visited Burlington so far, two more are scheduled for January.

Ward 3 Councillor John Taylor says “there is something strange going on”. “First we see a letter from the Ministry setting out what the options are as he sees them and then we hear that the Environmental Assessment process might be brought to an end.”

Taylor, the longest serving member of Burlington’s city council is wary – he isn’t totally sure what’s taking place but does note that the Southern Ontario Gateway group sent a letter to the Minister commenting on a meeting that took place December 3^rd.

The Southern Ontario Gateway Council (SOGC) is a transportation and economic development forum, whose members include most of the major transportation providers in Southern Ontario. They are lobbyists for the transportation industry and for them having roads that trucks can use is paramount.  They are a very effective lobbying group that have solid relationships with the provincial government.

They have been advocates for a road through the Escarpment and when they make presentations they put up all kinds of data that at times suggests the world might come to an end if trucks cannot  move goods.

The Stop Escarpment Highway Coalition (SEHC) is a citizens organization with 14 member organizations that have 8000 individuals members.  Thus group, along with consistent support from Burlington Council member John Taylor have managed to keep the public informed and to pack local meetings at which the public is given every piece of information they can dig out.

They have served the community exceptionally well .

The next step in this saga is a staff meeting that will take place late in January.  That meeting, with Ministry of Transportation people and staff people from all the municipalities that are touched by this, will set out what has been done and give the municipal and Regional bureaucrats a more detailed view of plans and progress.  Bruce Zvaniga Director of Transportation Services will represent Burlington.

There is a planned Public Information Centre sometime late in February at which the public gets brought up to date.  At some of the earlier PIC`s, there was an opportunity for public input through “open mike” sessions.  Those have not been part of recent PIC events which suggests the public gets to just listen.  There may be some people who have different ideas about that approach.

Taylor thinks the best approach is for Burlington and the Region to be bold.  “It is time”, said Taylor “ for this matter of any kind of a highway through the Escarpment to be put to bed.”  The Escarpment he added is part of the provincial Green Belt and while there are provincial policies that make strong mention of the need for roads – the Escarpment just isn’t one of those places.

“If we are bold enough”, suggests Taylor “we can secure the Escarpment as a place that remains natural.”  That will come as a hard blow to farmers that are sitting on property waiting for the day that a developer drives up the lane way with a cheque book in hand.

Taylor and the SEHC people want that part of the city, basically everything north of Dundas, left as it is – rural.  Part of the problem is that there is precious little farming in that part of the city.  The equestrian people have a strong presence but there are only so many young people who have parents that can afford those riding lessons.

If we want that land to be rural then we have to do something with it that is rural and that means a bit more than strawberries and pumpkins.

Taylor is sponsoring a Rural event January 19^th in Kilbride that will look at just what rural means and what the community wants to do – should be an interesting day.