Bradford Bypass townhalls’ revelations on human health and water impacts spur actions from advocates
Margaret Prophet, executive director of Simcoe County Greenbelt Coalition. – Margaret Prophet photo
From Simcoe.com, August 8, 2023
By Margaret Prophet
Contributed by: Margaret Prophet, executive director, Simcoe County Greenbelt Coalition
People driving by construction on Yonge Street may be of the opinion that the Bradford Bypass is a done deal, but environmental and community groups are still sounding alarms and advocating for improvements to the plan.
At a series of three public townhalls hosted by RLSC, FROGS, SCGC and volunteers in June, descriptions of impacts of the highway to human health, local waters and wells, and the staggering $4-billion potential price tag left audiences shocked at how little our governments are protecting human health, Ontario taxpayers and our water.
The groups want people to know that the Ministry of Transportation is certainly not telling people about the impacts highways have on human health, especially babies and children, nor the fact that they updated air-quality requirements for highway projects in 2020 so that they have no air-quality standards to meet. They think people who are affected have the right to know.
Following the townhalls, the groups have set up an online petition, a new webpage (bit.ly/bbp-take-action) and have sent letters to all Lake Simcoe watershed municipal councils encouraging them to continue supporting the protection of Lake Simcoe, human health and responsible use of tax dollars by passing a resolution requesting that the Ministry of Transportation:
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