Ontario hopes to get shovels in ground for Hwy. 413 in the next year
The Ontario government hopes to get shovels in the ground on Highway 413 in the next year.
Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria hinted at the timeline while speaking with reporters on Tuesday.
“I'm hoping to get shovels in the ground, within the next year,” he said. “But the market and our teams will dictate that. We'll continue to provide updates as we move forward on that.”
This is the first time the government has indicated a timeline for the project.
The comments come a day after the provincial and federal governments issued a joint statement agreeing to move forward with Highway 413 while establishing a working group to assess environmental impacts.
The “memorandum of understanding” released Monday comes after years of court battles between the two governments, with the federal government setting aside a designation that would have placed the highway under the Impact Assessment Act for environmental review.
Advocates have long said the six-lane, 52-kilometre highway that connects Halton and York regions would have long-term impacts on at least 29 federally-identified species at risk as well as multiple waterways.
Ontario farmers have also said the proposed highway “poses a major threat to farmland in the Greater Golden Horseshoe and thus the viability of the region’s agri-food sector.”
The joint working group pledged by both governments will “recommend appropriate measures to minimize environmental impacts in areas of federal environmental jurisdiction.”
“The joint working group will leverage collective expertise to protect the environment and ensure impacts to species at risk, like the Western chorus frog and the red-headed woodpecker, and their critical habitats are considered before the project moves into the detailed design stage,” officials said in the joint release.
Sarkaria sidestepped questions about how much Highway 413 will cost—a pricetag that has yet to be provided to the public.
In November 2022, an auditor general report suggested the cost could be more than $4 billion. However the Ontario Liberals have previously said it’s likely closer to $10 billion.
The government has pledged in their budget to spend $28 billion over 10 years for highways.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Trump confronts repeated boos during raucous Libertarian convention speech
Donald Trump was booed repeatedly while addressing Saturday night’s Libertarian Party National Convention.
This type of screen time has the worst effect on kids: experts
According to some experts, there is one type of screen time that is continuously excessive, and it's having a severe effect on our children.
Family of toddler found dead at small-town Ont. daycare no closer to answers after year of investigation
A year has passed since two-year-old Vienna Irwin was found on the property of a home-based daycare in small-town Ontario, but her family says they are no closer to answers of what happened that day.
Grayson Murray, two-time PGA Tour winner, dead at 30
Two-time PGA Tour winner Grayson Murray died Saturday morning at age 30, one day after he withdrew from the Charles Schwab Cup Challenge at Colonial.
Humboldt Broncos crash victims and families react to decision to deport truck driver
The family of one of the victims of the Humboldt Broncos bus crash in 2018 says they are 'thankful' for a decision by a Calgary immigration board to deport the driver of the truck involved.
Fatal plane crash reported near Squamish, B.C.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada has confirmed it is working with local Mounties and the BC Coroners Service after a plane crash near Squamish, B.C. Friday night.
'God forgives but we don’t': Loud outburst from stabbing victim’s family during sentencing hearing
An emotional outburst in a London, Ont. courtroom Friday disrupted the sentencing hearing of a woman who pleaded guilty for her part in the death of 29-year-old Mohammed Abdallah.
Three dead after vehicle plunged down a 100-foot embankment in Shediac, N.B.
Three people have died after a vehicle veered off the road in Shediac N.B., Friday morning.
Appeal denied for Edmonton soldier accused of trying to kill her 3 children
An Edmonton woman found guilty of trying to kill her three children has been denied an appeal.