Markham
December 04, 2008 10:23 PM
Keely Grasser
Is the Markham bypass a dead duck?
Not as far as Deputy Mayor Jack Heath is concerned.
“I have yet to see anything concrete to say it’s stopped,” he said of the long-in-the-works proposed connection of the Donald Cousens Parkway to Scarborough’s Morningside Avenue and Hwy. 401 access. “It may be in hibernation for a while but the need for some kind of alignment in the east end is still there.”
This comes after Scarborough-Rouge River MPP Bas Balkissoon said last week that the deal is “pretty well dead”.
The deal has a long history.
Markham has plans to continue the Donald Cousens Parkway south through Box Grove and Ninth Line to north of Steeles Avenue and then build a four-lane road from Steeles to Morningside.
However, the City of Toronto opposes the link, hoped to ease commuting between York Region and Toronto.
The province’s transportation minister refused to force Toronto to accept and two years of mediation between the region and the city brought no conclusion.
Conservationists and Morningside Heights residents say the proposed route would hurt the ecosystem, contribute to flooding and cause traffic congestion.
The York Region-favoured link is referred to as a continuous alignment.
There is another choice: a discontinuous alignment, which would be less expensive, easier to implement within existing corridors and require no new crossings of the Rouge River, according to a York Region report.
But the region has said this alignment won’t address traffic demand as well.
Toronto prefers this alignment, according to a region report.
At an October meeting, regional council approved a recommendation that the region amend the project’s environmental assessment they submitted to the Ministry of the Environment to get more information about the discontinuous option. The ministry says it wouldn’t make a decision on the bypass until the region amends its environmental assessment.
“We’re looking at all options and one of them has to be how the discontinuous alignment would work,” said Mr. Heath.
Too early to sayHe said he wants to ensure the chosen option will be the one that works for the people of Markham and York Region.
“It may end up being a discontinuous alignment, but it’s too early to say what the alignment will be,” he said.
Mr. Heath said the first priority is completing the Donald Cousens Parkway in Markham, between Hwy. 407 and Ninth Line. He said the region has been talking with the Ministry of Transportation to make sure that section is completed as soon as possible.
He said they are just waiting on a final land transfer and added that he hopes work on that section will begin next year.
With development activity around the proposed parkway expansion, Mr. Heath said the town is dependent on the roadway.
But he said he expects a positive resolution to the situation shortly.
Mr. Heath said Mr. Balkissoon’s statement about the bypass deal being dead is “a little premature”.
When Markham-Unionville MPP Michael Chan, a Liberal like Ms. Balkissoon, was asked his opinion, he forwarded the following statement: “in the case of projects like the Markham bypass proposed by York Region, there are a lot of factors for our municipal counterparts to take into account — whether it be traffic in the area, environmental hazards, noise and air pollution. It is the role of the municipalities to determine the best course of action now and in the future.”
He added that he hopes a resolution between the town and Toronto can be found.
Mr. Heath said he thinks “it’s important to get on with the project in the lives of council members”.
He added his feeling is the discontinuous alignment will be the eventual result.