Editor's note: The following introduction has been modified from its original version. BarrieToday apologizes for any confusion it may have caused. ... BarrieToday welcomes letters to the editor at [email protected]. Please include your daytime phone number and address (for verification of authorship, not publication). This letter is from reader Marisa Adrian, who expresses concerns over Highway 413.
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Highway 413 will only take 30 seconds off of commute time — saving 30 seconds of driving time will harm 2,000 acres of farmland, cut through 85 waterways, damage 220 wetlands and disrupt the habitats of 10 species-at-risk.
Doug Ford refuses to discuss how much Highway 413 will cost, but experts say it will take at least $10 billion from the public purse.
The Ford government ignored its own consultants' advice and chose the route of max destruction. Doug Ford appointed a Greenbelt Council chair who voted against the Greenbelt after seven members of Ontario’s Greenbelt Council resigned in protest of his bill that would shift the power of approval for development applications from local conservation authorities to the minister of natural resources and forestry.
It will add over 17 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions in the next 30 years and be detrimental to over 29 federally listed species at risk.
An expert panel found that the mega highway will only save drivers 30 to 60 seconds.
We don't need more highways; we need to prioritize livable cities and invest in clean, green and public transportation.
Marisa Adrian
Oro Station
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