Provincial Green leader ‘disappointed’ with feds not stepping in on Bradford Bypass

Green Party of Ontario Leader Mike Schreiner speaks at an event in Barrie in this file photo. | Raymond Bowe/BarrieToday

From BarrieToday, February 10, 2022
By BarrieToday Staff

The federal government has for a second time declined to intervene on Ontario’s plans to build the Bradford Bypass, a planned 16.2-kilometre link between Highways 400 and 404.

In a news release published Thursday, Ontario Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner says he was disappointed with decision.

“We need to protect nature, not destroy it,” said Schreiner, who refers to the Bradford Bypass as “the Holland Marsh Highway.”

“(It) should be cancelled. It will pump millions of kilograms of climate pollution into the air each year, tear up protected wetlands and endangered species habitat and pollute Lake Simcoe,” he added.

Schreiner says there are better, less environmentally local transportation solutions that the Ministry of Transportation outlined in 2014.

“This highway is not the answer,” he said.

Earlier this week in the House of Commons, York-Simcoe MP Scot Davidson pushed for progress of the highway.

“The Bradford Bypass has been in the works for over 30 years and the need for a faster, safer link between Highway 400 and the 404 has never been more clear,” he said. “It’s time to get behind the commuters, farmers and residents in York Region and Simcoe County who are overwhelmingly in support of this important initiative by Caroline Mulroney and the Ontario government.”

Mulroney is the province’s minister of transportation as well as the local MPP for York-Simcoe.

Davidson says the highway will fight congestion, create jobs and make York-Simcoe an even better place to live.

“So let’s get it built,” he said.

Mulroney said she was pleased with to hear the news Thursday.

“I am proud that the Ontario government is full steam ahead on the construction of the Bradford Bypass,” she said. “This long-overdue project is a massive win for drivers, businesses and farmers in York-Simcoe. The Bradford Bypass will relieve gridlock, unlock access to housing, and help get goods to market faster.”

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