Ontario’s Peel Region pulled its support for the Ford government’s plan to build a highway through the Greenbelt on Thursday, joining a flurry of councils turning their backs on the project.
The Ford government is proposing to fast-track an environmental assessment for the proposed GTA West corridor also known as Highway 413 which would connect suburbs north and west of Toronto. But with public opposition to the project heating up, nearly every municipality along its route has either yanked support or joined calls for the federal government to step in.
“It just seems like now there s a little bit of pressure, dominoes are falling one by one,” said Sarah Buchanan, the clean economy program manager at the non-profit Environmental Defence, which sent an official request for Ottawa to intervene.
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What began as a request for an environmental assessment ended in a major roadblock for a contentious expressway.
On Tuesday, Vaughan city council’s committee-of-the-whole voted 5 to 4 to withdraw support for the GTA West Highway/413, dealing the megaproject a serious blow.
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The drama began Tuesday morning with a committee delegation by highway opponent Irene Ford, urging Vaughan to join calls for a federal environmental assessment.
“It’s not a corridor, it’s a mega 400-series highway,” she said, saying the project will split communities, farms and environmentally sensitive areas.
Plan for new 400-series highway draws growing pressure from across the GTA to hit the brakes
Mississauga is the latest council to come out against the province s re-booted plan to build Highway 413, a long-discussed highway that would wrap around the northwest GTA.
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