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Mid-Peninsula Highway/Niagara-GTA Corridor

They already have one in the summer. I don't think there's a need for a train down to Niagara Falls during the winter. A bus is certainly enough.

Optimally during the summer they'd make it an every day thing instead of just on weekends. Tourists don't have weekends when they're on vacation.
 
EnviroTO said:
The route should go from QEW, south of Welland, Canborough, Haldibrook Road north of Caledonia, Highway 52, and meet the 401 and Hanlon Expwy Highway 6 interchange. There is a need for a freeway between 403 (somewhere between Brantford and Hamilton) and the 401 (around K-W and Guelph) because Highway 6 and 8 are accidents waiting to happen. The Highway 6 Hamilton By-Pass south of Hamilton was put in a place where it cannot cross the Dundas Valley and dumps more people onto the 403.
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I know I am a little late chiming into this discussion, but I think a transportation link as EnviroTO puts it is desperately needed. I like EnviroTO's thinking and idea - a lot. With regards to the concerns for sprawl and inappropriate highway development resulting from a mid-peninsula highway, if the right planning legislation and mechanisms are in place to prevent it (ie. through updated Official Plans, Places to Grow, etc.) it can be held back. Developers would have little luck appealing turned-downed proposals at the OMB if there are strict, top-level planning legislation to control it.

However, with regards to your conceptual "408" route EnviroTO, I think the connection to Highway 403 needs to be closer to Brantford. In my opinion, there are too many major provincial transportation EAs taking place in the Greater Golden Horseshoe independently of each other. While the project teams claim they are collaborating, I see little evidence of it. I think the NGTA EA can really compliment surrounding transportation studies such as the Brantford-Cambridge Corridor (Study Website). Due to the Environmentally sensitive lands to the east of Brantford and Cambridge (ie. the Paris-Galt moraine, Beverly Swamp), the Brantford-Cambridge corridor is better suited to be on the west side of Brantford, possibly liked to Highway "408" a few kilometers east on Highway 403 outside Brantford. In the end, this could result in a better connection for major urban centres in the west GGH to the Niagara Economic Gateway, such as Brantford, Cambridge, Kitchener and Waterloo. Throw in Highway 24 to your claim that Highways 8 and 6 are accidents waiting to happen. A more comprehensive look at transportation issues in the western half of the GGH will achieve a more consistent solution.

With regards to better connections to the heart of the GTA (Downtown, Mississauga, etc.), multi-modal connections in Hamilton can be maximized. The potential of the John Munro International Airport in Hamilton as a multi-modal transportation hub is currently not being realized as it should be. As this airport grows, I see more opportunities for connections to expand GO Rail service to the airport, along with inter-city bus service, improved freight/logistics, and improved Highway connections with car pooling lots. etc. These together would assist in relieving congestion along the Burlington Skyway and 403/QEW/407/6 Combo Interchanges.

If planned properly with other surrounding transportation studies and the various constraints given a more serious look, such a Mid-Peninsula Highway/NGTA Corridor could become an essential economic link for Southwestern Ontario and do wonders for the Golden Horseshoe around western Lake Ontario.
 
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Hurrah!

Niagara highway route quashed

Province focusing on light rail, public transit
June 26, 2010
Andrew Baulcomb
The Hamilton Spectator
(Jun 26, 2010)

Nearly a decade after announcing plans for a $1.5 billion mid-peninsula highway between Halton and Niagara, the Ministry of Transportation says the road won't be necessary to accommodate traffic needs.

Southern Ontario is expecting a population boom of 4.5 million people over the next two decades, but Will Mackenzie, a spokesperson for MTO, said the super-highway will not be required after all.

"We felt that even after 2031, there would be no immediate need for the section between Ancaster and Welland," said Mackenzie.

Instead, the province plans to focus on other transit initiatives such as Metrolinx, a provincial agency which placed a $770 million order for 182 light rail vehicles earlier this month.

The original expressway plan called for one super-highway looping from Burlington around Ancaster and south Hamilton Mountain, eventually winding up in Fort Erie/Niagara.

Rather than building one large expressway between Halton and Niagara, several smaller projects involving the QEW and 403 have been proposed by a Niagara-GTA study team. Mackenzie said that "there were a number of (other) issues" involved in the cancellation of the mid-peninsula highway earlier this week.

He cited the 2003 Richmond Landfill decision in Napanee as one of the most pressing issues facing the highway's completion.

The Richmond case involved a proposed landfill expansion, where divisional courts sided with the Canadian Environmental Law Association (CELA) regarding what are known as terms of reference.

The courts ruled that environmental assessments in Ontario have to include needs and alternatives on any given project.

In the case of the super-highway, it was determined there was not enough need.

"That decision became case law ... that's why the mid-peninsula project was one of many pulled off the table," Mackenzie said.

The provincial Liberals launched an environmental assessment into the super-highway in 2005, and the issues of need and environmental impact on the surrounding lands have been major points of contention ever since.

In a letter sent to a Niagara-GTA study team on January 8, Citizens Against Paving the Escarpment (COPE) co-chairs Susan McMaster and Dave Bailey said they were "opposed to any scenario that includes building a new highway corridor or inflicts a new cut on the Niagara Escarpment."

The group could not be reached for comment on the latest mid-pen highway decision.

In terms of commerce, John Koroscil, chair of the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce and president and CEO of the Hamilton International Airport, said that the mid-pen decision is a "lost opportunity" on the Mountain.

"Look at the QEW between Hamilton and Toronto, and the development that's taken place there. That's a good example of the kind of opportunity that exists for Hamilton, and now you're taking that away."

However, Koroscil said that the decision "would not affect the airport employment growth district, because Highway 6 goes right through the middle of it."

With the mid-peninsula highway now off the table, new options include a corridor between the QEW in Fort Erie/Niagara and Highway 406 in Welland; a widening of the QEW between Highway 406 in St. Catharines and the Freeman Interchange in Burlington (QEW-403-407).

Also on the table are operational improvements on Highway 403 between the Ancaster-Brant County border and the Freeman Interchange in the short term; and a new corridor study to connect the 403 at Ancaster/Brant with Highway 407 near Burlington/Milton.

The MTO's Mackenzie said the new transit developments are still several years away from being realized.

"The plan that we've come out with is predicated on all the other stuff being done first.

"All of the Metrolinx plans, the GO Transit expansion and the road improvements that are planned by the municipalities and the province all need to be in place before any of the additional new stuff can be done."

abaulcomb@thespec.com

905-526-3299
 
doady said:
Regular GO Train service to Niagara Falls would be better... cheaper, more efficient, no paving over greenspace, usable by people without a car, etc.
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Et all.

Problem is, the highway is really intended for trucks, both to get to Toronto and to cross southern Ontario to Windsor/Detroit like the old CASO/MC did 100 years ago. Truckers have been crying for this for years. For reasons I can't fully explain, it is not possible to put them on the underused CN and CP rail lines serving the Niagara region and into the Buffalo gateway, so the HWY is clogged with trucks.

GO Trains are great, but they don't address the freight issue, which is what the highway represents.
 
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The_Waffler said:
Problem is, the highway is really intended for trucks, both to get to Toronto and to cross southern Ontario to Windsor/Detroit like the old CASO/MC did 100 years ago. Truckers have been crying for this for years. For reasons I can't fully explain, it is not possible to put them on the underused CN and CP rail lines serving the Niagara region and into the Buffalo gateway, so the HWY is clogged with trucks.
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Really simple solution. If the highway is inteded for trucks, then toll two lanes in each direction and make them truck only. Take cars off the truck highway.
 
CDL.TO said:
If you toll the highway, trucks will likely just stick with the free road anyway.
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Probably.

I have an issue with people saying such and such a corridor is for trucking but setting it up so congestion by private vehicles makes it a poor trucking route. If we want trucking routes, set them up with trucking as a priority and allow private vehicles on it only when they do not impede trucking. Otherwise, acknowledge they are built to primarily enable sprawl as that is what they will be used for.

When my family was in the trucking business (aggregates primarily from a half dozen locations around the province) a substantial chunk of the cost was the truck and driver time (~3 drivers working shifts so the truck ran essentially 24/7 outside of maintenance windows). Being able to make an additional trip per week would have been worth tens of thousands over a year.


OTA (Ontario Trucking Association) has indicated that 407 owners have made it quite clear they do not want trucks on their highway. This route cannot act as an example of truckers not willing to pay tolls due to the hostility of the owners toward truckers (random enforcement stops for no particular reason, etc.).
 
VICTORY VICTORY VICTORY! Wooo Hoooo :D

I know I'm only one of many people who worked to kill this stupid, asinine, irresponsible, ecologically and economically unsound proposal, but after many many years, finally we are on our way to burying it!

After losing the Red Hill Creek battle, this is a much needed lift to the spirits.

Now to carry on the momentum and kill the new #424 proposal and that nonsensical Guelph (401) to 400 connector.

Then we can get on track in in-fill development, transit-oriented development, intensification, and the construction of sustainable, ecologically sound transportation; including High Speed Passenger (and Freight) rail; upgraded and faster conventional passenger and freight rail , regional transit systems, and commuter rail.

That will free up all the needed room.
 
Seems like the way roads are going. Small improvement projects to existing corridors rather than large new corridors. More "good news" stories per dollar spent. If only they'd cancelled the KW LRT as well. :/
 
Now, I wonder what'd happen if Tim Hudak were premier (i.e. the "Hudak Highway" becoming common parlance)--remember that his constituency's the heart of mid-peninsula...
 
I had no idea that this study was still alive. I guess it was just the portion of highway planned south of the QEW between the 403 and Welland that was canned.

It's interesting to see proposed a stacked Collector-Express highway system on the 403 running up the escarpment in Hamilton. In general, if we are going to be expanding the highway network I'm of the opinion that it should be done in the same Right-Of-Way as existing highways. I wonder if stacking the highway here would be significantly more expensive than making a new cut through the escarpment
 
dunkalunk said:
I had no idea that this study was still alive. I guess it was just the portion of highway planned south of the QEW between the 403 and Welland that was canned.

It's interesting to see proposed a stacked Collector-Express highway system on the 403 running up the escarpment in Hamilton. In general, if we are going to be expanding the highway network I'm of the opinion that it should be done in the same Right-Of-Way as existing highways. I wonder if stacking the highway here would be significantly more expensive than making a new cut through the escarpment
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It is definitely an interesting idea, and would have a significantly smaller environmental impact than increasing the ROW width and making a larger cut.

I'm not really a big fan of making an E-W highway that starts at Highway 407 and continues further west. Dumping passenger flow onto a private tolled highway seems like a bad idea to me (W4 on the map). Unless of course they create a separate highway beside it up to the 403-407 interchange, and sign that highway as 403.

And it's kind of strange to me that the Highway 6 upgrades are so far down the list. Seems to me that a 400-series link between the 401 and 403 somewhere around the 6 corridor should be one of the top priorities in the west GTHA.
 
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