What a thrill
to be a driver in the 1950s and 60s. Smooth sheets of concrete were
blooming everywhere in the form of new highways, expressways and
Ways named for royalty. The 401 was growing into the busiest freeway
on the continent, Toronto was offering suburban commuters new routes
to downtown and older roads were widened and extended into the
farming fringe.
In this new
century and millennium, there is still an ambitious plan to expand
the 400-series network across Ontario -- but the obstacles have
multiplied. Existing development and newly preserved natural land
now block attempts to widen and extend. Opponents have appeared,
concerned about sprawl and environmental decline.
Although the
provincial government does not tout a grand highway scheme, there
are quite a few pans in the fire. Environmental assessments or
preliminary studies have been underway across Ontario. Occasionally
word seeps out of complex negotiations between federal, state and
provincial governments on what to do about crowded borders at
Windsor and Niagara. Bridges? Tunnels? Who knows?
As the Queen
Elizabeth Way overloads, the province has been thinking about how to
link greater Toronto to New York State with a new express road.
Earlier plans for a highway across the Niagara Peninsula south of
the QEW faced much opposition. Perhaps the new name for the project,
‘Niagara to GTA Corridor’ reflects an openness to exploring other
options, like better rail service. Premature thinking has this
highway being numbered 408, wrapping around Hamilton and hooking up
with Highway 403, then possibly with the 407 toll route or the 401.
An equally
fresh moniker, the Greater Golden Horseshoe, is now applied to the
continuous urban blob from Bowmanville to St. Catharines. It’s going
to be interesting to see if Queen’s Park can expand the transport
network, without setting off a development wildfire -- low-density
projects will surely follow the path of any proposed highway.
Finding a place
for over three million new inhabitants will be tricky. Some foresee
a total population in the Horseshoe of almost 12 million by 2031.
That’s close to Ontario’s entire present-day head count.
Expect lots of
growth around Guelph and Waterloo Region, especially as home
developers eventually leap-frog over the no-build green belt
surrounding Toronto. Ontario’s transport ministry (MTO) has long
wished to beef up Highway 7 between Guelph and Kitchener, but their
ardour seems to have cooled -- perhaps due to local criticism and
the upgrading of alternate routes.
Even more
moribund appears to be unlucky "Highway 413" -- a proposed link
between Guelph and Vaughan, the self-named “city above Toronto”. By
contrast, Highway 410 is slowly centimetering north from Brampton
toward Caledon. Some work has already begun, and MTO has just gone
to tender for a short extension.
Once Queen’s
Park sorts out its growth plans for the Greater Hogtown Area, we’ll
get some idea about sending more highways northward. Behind the 410
in the planning pipeline is an extension of the 427 from the Person
airport area through Vaughan.
Under the
previous Conservative government, it seemed more certain that the
427 would eventually parallel the snow- and traffic-clogged Highway
400. Another route to Barrie seems like overkill, and for now the
idea appears to be hibernating. Widening the 400 might be more
practical, but there’s a real bottleneck once the existing highway
reaches Barrie’s outskirts.
We’re also
waiting to hear whether Highway 404 resumes its crawl towards the
south shore of Lake Simcoe. This 45 kilometer project was
green-lighted by the province in 2002, along with the Bradford
Bypass, a four-lane, 16 km freeway connecting Highways 400 and 404.
Coming up: The
North, and a new crossing to Quebec?
Ed Drass, with
files by James Bow
edrass@nationalpost.com