Will Georgina support Barrie’s call for an environmental assessment of the proposed Holland Marsh Highway?

Claire Malcolmson

By Jack Gibbons, Chair of Lake Simcoe Watch

On Wednesday, August 11th Claire Malcolmson of the Rescue Lake Simcoe Coalition asked Georgina Town Council to call for a full provincial individual environmental assessment of the proposed Holland Marsh Highway (aka, the Bradford Bypass). Barrie Council has led the way by passing a motion calling for a full assessment, recognizing the serious environmental impacts this project could have on Lake Simcoe and surrounding areas. It only makes sense for Georgina, which has just as big a stake in the health of the lake, to take a similar stance.

The proposed 16.2 km, four-lane Holland Marsh Highway will:

1. Increase phosphorus pollution reaching Lake Simcoe.
2. Endanger fish spawning habitat.
3. Destroy 23 acres of provincially significant wetlands in the Holland Marsh.
4. Destroy 81 acres of significant wildlife habitat.
5. Increase the amount of damaging road salt washing into rivers, creeks and eventually the lake.

We need a full environmental assessment of the proposed Holland Marsh Highway to:

• Determine if it is the best option to meet our transportation needs; and
• To ensure that, if it is built, it will be combined with appropriate environmental safeguards and mitigation measures to ensure that it will NOT have a net adverse impact on Lake Simcoe and its watershed.

Right now, the provincial government is trying to fast-track construction of the highway based on an assessment completed 23 years ago. This assessment contains numerous gaps and, critically, did not address climate change impacts at all. Further, required studies and updates were then left undone when the project was shelved earlier this decade. This completely inadequate and outdated study is no basis for rushing forward with a hugely costly highway project.

To read Ms. Malcolmson’s letter to Georgina Town Council please click here.

What you can do

Please contact Mayor Quirk and Council Members and ask them to support Ms. Malcolmson’s call for a full environmental assessment of the proposed Holland Marsh Highway.