Just weeks after Ontario and the City of Toronto closed a deal to see two major roadways uploaded to the province in a venture to bail out the cash-strapped municipality, Hamilton’s council will seek a similar deal with the Red Hill Valley (RHVP) and Lincoln M. Alexander (Linc) parkways.
Council voted unanimously in favour of engagement with the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) in hopes of starting talks on transferring ownership, operation and maintenance of the two thoroughfares to the Ford government.
Ward 1 Coun. Maureen Wilson brought the motion forward and characterized the framework between the province and the city as an “untenable” financial arrangement putting a burden on taxpayers.
“If this is the ‘get ‘er done’ government, let’s start with where their interests lie … and that’s roads,” Wilson said.
Upper Stoney Creek’s Brad Clark said it’s an “excellent idea” and says traffic on the roads is “largely trucks and an awful lot of vehicles driving right on through.”
“It’s a quick way to get to get to Niagara Falls and vice versa going the other direction,” Clark insisted.
The annual average of daily traffic on the nine-kilometre RHVP is around 92,000 vehicles, while the eight-kilometre Linc sees some 88,000 every 24 hours.
Each has seven exchanges and connect to other provincially-controlled roadways like the Queen Elizabeth Highway and Highway 403, respectively.
The move is in reaction to a multi-million-dollar agreement Premier Doug Ford and Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow announced in late November that will see two major Toronto highways; the Gardiner and the Don Valley Parkway, fall under the control of the MTO.
In exchange, Toronto will also allow the province to take over the responsibility for Ontario Place, clearing the path for the Ford government’s controversial redevelopment of the Crown lands.
The deal will include money for transit and refugees, while the city will redouble its efforts to build housing and transit-oriented communities.
The premier is also calling on the federal government to step in and provide its “fair share” of funding for parts of the deal, including support for shelters and transit funding.
Days after the Toronto deal, the commissioner of the Red Hill Valley Parkway Inquiry recommended Hamilton adopt processes for a comprehensive traffic safety approach similar to the MTO after it was suggested a “lack of action” from some city departments created issues on the thoroughfare.
The inquiry, launched in 2019, centered around a report uncovering road surface studies suggesting remedial action amid concerns over friction levels in some areas of the RHVP being below safety standards.
Hamilton West/Central Mountain (Ward 8) coun. John-Paul Danko said the roadways are not even “assets” for the city but “liabilities” with large sums of money needed to maintain them annually.
“I think the province does have an inherent interest in these roads, not only the life cycle operation and maintenance costs,” he suggested.
“But also any future widening, that would be a provincial initiative and taking on those costs because there is an inherent interest to the provincial economy.”
Public Works as well as the Planning and Economic Development departments are expected to put together a plan and analysis to support an upload with the City Solicitor to review the Haudenosaunee-Hamilton Red Hill Agreements.
The MTO did not respond directly to a Global News query on the council’s move, but did say in a statement it would “continue to work” with city partners to “help ensure the sustainability of municipal infrastructure across Ontario.”