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11 | The IFP -H alton H ills | T hursday,S eptem ber 5,2019 theifp.ca Notice of Public Information Centre #2 GTAWest Transportation Corridor Route Planning and Environmental Assessment Study, Stage 2 THE STUDY In June 2019, the Minister of Transportation announced that the government is resuming Stage 2 of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) West Transportation Corridor Route Planning and Environmental Assessment (EA) Study. Building on the recommendations from Stage 1, the EA Study will identify the route, determine interchange locations and complete the preliminary design for a new transportation corridor within the Route Planning Study Area. The new multimodal transportation corridor will include a 400-series highway, transitway and potential goods movement priority features. The GTAWest Transportation Corridor is vital transportation infrastructure that will help meet the projected growth in both population and employment identified in the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe (2019), and will deliver multiple benefits, including: • Greater connectivity between urban growth centres; • Enhanced people and goods movement; • Improved commuting; and • Greater economic vitality. The GTAWest Study is being undertaken as an Individual EA in accordance with the Ontario EA Act and the GTAWest Corridor EA Terms of Reference, which was approved by the Ontario Minister of the Environment on March 4, 2008. PUBLIC INFORMATION CENTRE #2 (PIC #2) PIC #2 will present the study process, the Technically Preferred Route, the 2019 Focused Analysis Area, and will introduce the opportunity to participate in developing Community Value Plans for the GTAWest Study. PIC #2 will be an informal drop-in centre with Project Team representatives available to answer questions. The same information will be presented at each venue. Location and dates: Thursday, September 19, 2019 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Venetian Salon Château Le Jardin Conference Centre 8440 Highway 27 Woodbridge, ON L4L 1A5 Thursday, September 26, 2019 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Kinsmen Hall Gellert Community Centre 10241 Eighth Line Georgetown, ON L7G 4S5 Thursday, October 3, 2019 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Peel Junior Farmers Hall Brampton Fairgrounds 12942 Heart Lake Road Caledon, ON L7C 2J3 COMMENTS Comments and input regarding the study are encouraged and will be collected to assist the GTAWest Project Team. This material will be maintained on file for use during the project and may be included in project documentation to meet the requirements of the Ontario EA Act. Information collected will be used in accordance with the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act and the Access to Information Act. With the exception of personal information, all comments will become part of the public record. If you have any accessibility requirements in order to participate in this project, please contact the Project Team. To contact the Project Team directly or to be added to the mailing list, please call the toll-free telephone line at 1-877-522-6916, send an email to project_team@gta-west.com, or write to the Project Team at the addresses provided below. Study information is available on the project website: www.gta-west.com. Jim Dowell, P.Eng., Consultant Project Manager WSP 610 Chartwell Road, Suite 300 Oakville, ON L6J 4A5 Lukasz Grobel, P.Eng., MTO Project Manager Ontario Ministry of Transportation, Central Region 159 Sir William Hearst Avenue, 4th Floor Toronto, ON M3M 0B7 Des renseignements sont disponibles en français en composant 289 835-2484 (Yannick Garnier). Halton Hills Mayor Rick Bon- nette is calling on the provincial government to focus its efforts on inter-regional transit enhance- ments instead of resurrecting a study for a GTA West corridor highway. The head of council re- cently wrote a letter to Ontario's minister of transportation, citing the need to prioritize a transit strategy in response to the provin- cial government's plans to resume the GTA West transportation cor- ridor environmental assessment (EA). "The EA for this project began over 10 years ago with the laudable objective of looking at transporta- tion issues and identifying oppor- tunities to improve linkages be- tween urban growth centres through highway widening and improved connections," said Bon- nette. He noted the process re- quired the town to protect the study corridor, which includes a swath of land in Halton Hills from approximately Highway 407 to 10 Sideroad. "In layman's terms, this means that we have been unable to offer these lands for development, and area residents and farmers have had to deal with this uncertainty," he said. "The start-stall and reboot of this project has further compli- cated this issue." The mayor's letter questioned the need to reactivate the EA, while suggesting that a higher pri- ority would be the development of a ministry-led, transit-first strate- gy focused on enhancing inter-re- gional transit service to meet the needs of the community and re- duce greenhouse gas emissions. "Earlier this year, Halton Hills town council declared a climate change emergency, and we are strong advocates for reducing the reliance on single, fossil-fuelled vehicles," noted Bonnette. For more information on the GTA West corridor, visit halton- hills.ca. COUNCIL PUT TRANSIT FIRST, MAYOR URGES FORD GOVERNMENT MELANIE HENNESSEY mhennessey@metroland.com