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th ei fp .c a Th e IF P -H al to n H ill s | T hu rs da y, N ov em be r 7, 20 19 | 2 NOMINATIONS WANTED! Doyouknowsomeonebetween the agesof6-17who ismakinga differencewithin their community? Nominate themforanOntario Junior CitizenAward today! Nomination fofof rms are availabble from this newspaper, and at wwwww wwww .ocnaa.orgg//jj/j//j/ uniorcitizen. Or call 416-923-7724 ext. 44444 339 COOORDINATED BY: DEADLINE IS NOVEMBER 30, 2019 intersect east of Trafalgar Road. But according to Halton Hills Coun. Clark Somer- ville, one detail that's no- ticeably absent in the plans is a much-needed Norval bypass. He pushed the provin- cial staff on the issue, who told him that the proposed corridor doesn't preclude the local bypass or the pro- posed Bram West Parkway in neighbouring Bramp- ton. But the answer didn't sit well with Somerville, who said it implies that the mu- nicipality is solely respon- sible for funding and build- ing a bypass in Norval. "It's not really a good use of regional tax dollars to build a road that we don't know where it's going to go because we don't know what the province is do- ing," he said. "You can sense my frustration on this because it (the plan) shouldn't be precluding, it should be including the Norval bypass." Fellow Halton Hills Coun. Jane Fogal said she's not in favour of pouring more money into high- ways, and would rather see the funds spent on increas- ing railway transit. "Every time we build a highway, it fills right up," she noted. "I don't see that as the way of the future." She also expressed con- cern about the Halton Hills employment lands east of the proposed highway that haven't been developed yet and would become isolated and potentially unusable. "When there's lands that become undevelop- able, that's a cost to us. That's a definite concern," she said. Halton Hills Mayor Rick Bonnette echoed similar sentiments and asked for the regional staff report on the matter to be deferred to the next council meeting, which would give Halton Hills staff time to look at the issue and get their com- ments back to Halton for submission to the prov- ince. "This (proposed high- way) will cause serious damage to Halton Hills and economic growth," he as- serted. The Halton staff report indicated that the GTA West highway could have "significant impacts" on the existing and planned roads in the region, de- pending on the final route that's selected for the corri- dor. "Solutions to address these impacts must be identified in consultation with the Region and Town of Halton Hills," notes the report. A confirmed preferred route is expected to be ready in the spring, when the Ministry of Transpor- tation will then commence preliminary design and consult with property own- ers who are directly im- pacted. By fall/winter 2021, the MTO anticipates that it will be able to present the pre- liminary design of the pre- ferred route at a public in- formation centre. For more information, visit gta-west.com. COUNCIL Continued from page 1 FOGAL: SPEND MORE ON RAILWAY TRANSIT, NOT HIGHWAYS A portion of the technically preferred route (marked in yellow) for the proposed GTA West highway where it would run through Halton Hills, including a potential interchange at Winston Churchill Boulevard. Province of Ontario graphic