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9 | The IFP -H alton H ills | T hursday,M arch 19,2020 theifp.ca Notice of Design and Construction Report No. 3 Submission Highway 401 Expansion Project Credit River to Regional Road 25 West Corridor Constructors (WCC) has been selected by the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) and Infrastructure Ontario to design, build and finance the Highway 401 Expansion Project (the Project). The Project is approximately 18 km long from east of the Credit River in Mississauga to west of Regional Road 25 in Milton. The Project includes widening the existing six-lane configuration to a 10-lane or 12-lane Core Collector system, including High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes. The Project includes modifications to existing infrastructure to accommodate the proposed widening, including 9 new, replaced or widened bridges, 6 bridge rehabilitations, retaining wall construction / rehabilitation and 6 culvert replacements, extensions or rehabilitations. This Project also includes supporting facilities and features such as drainage, lighting, signage, Advanced Traffic Management System and carpool lots. THE PROCESS This project is following the approved planning process for a Group 'B' project under the MTO Class EA for Provincial Transportation Facilities (2000), with the opportunity for public input throughout the Project. Design and Construction Reports (DCRs) will be prepared to document the works and will each be available for a 30-day review period. Notices for the DCRs will be published in local newspapers, on the Project website (www.401expansion-mississauga-milton.ca) and distributed to the Project contact list. DCR NO. 3WORKS DCR No. 3 has been prepared to document rehabilitation or replacement of five structural culverts, watercourse realignments, and landscaping and ecological restoration of the corridor. DCR No. 3 documents the study process, design details, the environmental impacts and mitigation measures of these works, and the consultation conducted. COMMENTS We are interested in hearing your comments regarding this Project and on DCR No. 3, which will be available for a 30-day review period from March 19, 2020 to April 17, 2020. The report will only be available electronically on the Project website. If you have any accessibility needs to review DCR No. 3, please contact the Project Team. If you wish to submit comments on the DCR, obtain additional information, ask questions or sign up for the Project contact list, please contact the Project Team through one of the following: e-mail: info@401expansion-mississauga-milton.ca tel: 1-888-619-1665 (24-hour) project website: www.401expansion-mississauga-milton.ca Information collected will be used in accordance with the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy 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 through one of the options above. Des renseignements sont disponibles en français en composant 1 888 619-1665. said. The $2 million divided among 42 rape crisis centres will not stop Arguello from having to walk into her office this week and give notice to one SAVIS counsellor, and possibly reduce the hours of her public educator. That means 45 clients will be "put on hold," and im- portant awareness work in schools and youth centres will be reduced. She faces the reality that the wait list for counselling will jump from five months to 10 months, and SAVIS support groups will shut down. "I welcome minister (MAG Doug) Downey to help me make those calls to survivors who are going to be put on hold and say, '45 of you will be put on hold un- til we figure out funding'." In 2019, SAVIS supported more than 900 survivors of sex- ual violence in Halton through one-on-one counselling and took more than 1,500 crisis calls. The organization also op- erated more than 300 violence prevention education work- shops last year, for more than 5,715 community members and ran seven support groups for survivors of sexual violence that supported more than 50 people. "These figures demonstrate that survivors of sexual vio- lence in the Halton Region need our services." SAVIS is anticipating be- tween 2,500 and 3,000 calls to its crisis line this year. "We are not only at the point where we're burning out staff, but we're burning out volun- teers (for crisis line)," she said. "I take crisis calls. We all take calls." Due to the increase in male sexual assault survivors in Halton, "we had to hire a male counsellor and a prevention worker, but that's going to be gone." Over the past two-and-a-half years, crisis line volunteers have had survivors on a queue system, meaning as soon as the 40-minute mark is reached, they must end one call to take the next. "That has never happened in the past." When Arguello hears top re- gion officials continually boast that Halton is one of the safest communities, "it breaks my heart." "If we're so safe, why are we seeing an increase in all servic- es? The impact is going to be felt all over Halton." STORY BEHIND THE STO- RY: Confusing back-to-back government funding announce- ments for rape crisis centres only served to complicate what is becoming an overwhelming situation for SAVIS of Halton. Demands on the organization, launched in 1985 and serving survivors of sexual assault throughout the region, have drastically increased in the wake of the #MeToo movement. Continued from page 8 "We are not only at the point where we're burning out staff, but we're burning out volunteers." Alma Arguello, SAVIS of Halton executive director