The Bradford Bypass will devastate the Holland Marsh and do nothing to fix congestion, but the PCs don’t want you to know that
Photo illustration by Joel Wittnebel/The Pointer 

The Bradford Bypass will devastate the Holland Marsh and do nothing to fix congestion, but the PCs don’t want you to know that


It's a warm August day and the Holland River is a hive of activity. Boats skim the surface. Paddlers push their crafts. Birds look for prey. And turtles bask under the sun—humans and wildlife brought together in the dog days of summer. 

Claire Malcolmson maneuvers her canoe through the current; she is on a mission. 

Time is running out. 

The natural beauty surrounding her and her team, bathed in pastels and neutrals by the rising sun, looks like a scene in a Monet. Aging willow trees bow to the water’s surface while red oaks and white cedars frame the breathtaking panorama. Deep green leaves dance with the wind, beneath the shapes of cream-coloured clouds that contrast a vividly bright azure sky.

It is a palette of Earth’s colours, painting nature’s spellbinding creations.  

Great blue herons look for shimmering fish between chocolate brown cattails; turtles the colour of moss feed on harmful bacteria keeping the water clean for the silvery minnows and yellow perch that birds enjoy—it’s all part of the ecosystem’s symphony of life. 

 

Turtles keep the ecosystems they inhabit clean by eating harmful bacteria, which allows other species to feed and flourish.

(Joel Wittnebel/The Pointer)

 

The life sustaining interdependence is made possible by the Lake Simcoe Watershed that acts like a network of blood vessels. The benefits extend to the residents of York Region and Simcoe County who rely on these vital greenspaces for flood protection, water filtration, and carbon storage, the Earth’s natural ways of cleansing itself. 

Some naturalists balk at placing a dollar figure on the value these lands provide, seeing it as an affront to the spiritual connection people have with these natural spaces which have existed for thousands of years. It’s estimated to be more than a billion dollars. Money taxpayers will be forking out if these places are irreversibly destroyed. 

The PC government does not recognize the true value of the area. It has been marked for development and a 400-series highway that will render the marsh unrecognizable.

 

Claire Malcolmson is the executive director of the Rescue Lake Simcoe Coalition and is working tirelessly to educate the public about the dangers posed by the Bradford Bypass.

(Joel Wittnebel/The Pointer)

 

Like Greenpeace activists who sail into the heart of operations destroying our oceans and marine life, Malcolmson and her team at the Rescue Lake Simcoe Coalition are paddling the Holland River to stop the PC government’s plan.

The entire area has a guillotine hanging over it. 

The Bradford Bypass threatens to slice the watershed in two, with dire consequences. The sense of urgency has escalated as early works on the project are well underway, and Premier Doug Ford refuses to back down, despite piles of evidence—some of it from his own government’s consultants—that details the environmental destruction the 400-series highway will cause. 

The PCs are aware it will do little to solve the congestion issues in the growing area around Bradford West-Gwillumbury and Lake Simcoe. Instead, the government is prioritizing a project it views as politically popular in an area where blue ridings dominate. 

For Malcolmson and her team, it’s up to them to document the wildlife that call this area home. They are raising awareness about the irreversible threat because the PCs are not being honest with residents about the reality of the project or the studies being done to analyze the negative effects of building a roadway through one of Ontario’s most precious wetlands. Many local councils around Lake Simcoe, dissatisfied with the quality of the studies, have called for a more thorough review. None have been completed. 

“The Ford government has completely gutted the Environmental Assessment system and watered down their own rules to the point of being useless, all while making unsubstantiated claims like ‘we have the best Environmental Assessments in the world’,” Malcolmson says.

The Progressive Conservatives, under Ford, altered the Environmental Assessment Act in a targeted effort to fast-track the Bypass. The changes eliminated the need for critical studies, including one that would have analyzed alternatives to the highway. The government is relying on an assessment that was completed over 20 years ago to inform the complex construction. 

The EA being used was completed in 2002, five years before the Ontario government released its first Climate Change Action Plan, a clear indicator of just how out of date the analysis is. 

It’s not the only reason Malcolmson, her team, and dedicated citizen naturalists have enlisted to gather critical information on this warm summer day. 

One of those joining the team is David Hawke, a longtime naturalist, educator and former wetland biologist with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry. He’s paddling solo, identifying plants, birds and wildlife. He’s keeping a running tally on a notepad in his lap, all the while marking each flora and fauna’s location with a GPS device.

“It doesn’t make sense to build a road here,” he says, studying the stands of trees towering over rows of cattails. The location, so close to the wet marshland, is perfect for ash trees, which “like to keep their toes wet” he says. Black ash is an endangered species and would require a permit to remove. 

 

David Hawke, a former wetland biologist with the Government of Ontario is helping the Rescue Lake Simcoe Coalition document species that will be impacted by the Bradford Bypass.

(Joel Wittnebel/The Pointer)

 

The Bypass, if constructed, will be eight lanes of blacktop running 16.2 kilometres directly through the Holland Marsh Wetland Complex, including parts of it labelled as provincially significant. These are wetlands that have been deemed the most valuable to the surrounding ecosystem following a scientific analysis.

The group is scanning the river banks for a number of species listed as a special concern. These plants and animals do not qualify for legal protection, but the designation signals they are most at risk of population declines that could land them on the threatened or endangered list: species like the green heron or barn swallow, which is of special concern due to the fast disappearance of the structures that gave them their name. 

The green heron is listed on the Cornell Lab’s list of common birds in steep decline with the population effectively being cut in half between 1966 and 2019. Both stand to lose large swaths of valuable habitat should the bypass cleave its way through this green oasis. 

Studies completed by the government’s consultants spotted both of these species during their fieldwork, and noted suitable habitat, but could not confirm it as no nesting sites were found. 

Confirming nesting sites for either of these species would be a win for Malcolmson’s team and the flotilla of naturalists studying the banks of the Holland River. 

Surprisingly, it doesn’t take long. 

Green herons use a variety of trees for their nests. Pines, oaks, willows, cedar, hickory; the beautiful birds are not picky. The nests are usually over water, anywhere from ground level to 30 feet in the air.

Malcolmson’s canoe nears a sagging willow tree. The shade provides relief from the sun for not only her and her team, but the many species of fish that flit in the river beneath them. These shady branches are a perfect perch for a hungry heron.

As the canoe inches closer, something croaks. A raspy exclamation that is thrown out of the willow branches. Green herons are very territorial, and not afraid to fight if forced. However, as a shy bird, they often choose flight, and this one chooses to flee. It blasts through the willows in a flurry of feathers, taking off over the riverbank. 

It allows the group to inspect the spot for a nest. 

The canoe slides beneath the massive willow, its sagging branches brushing shoulders. Canoe propped against the muddy bank, Malcolmson takes out a pair of binoculars to scan the nearby trees. 

 

 

Others try to traverse the shoreline, but the fence demarking private property keeps them from venturing too far.  

 

 

Then Malcolmson points. 

“You see that there?”

 

 

A spiky ball of sticks and leaves is crushed into the crux of a still-maturing tree. It could be a green heron nest. But it could also be a squirrel, or another avian species. Removing the nest of a green heron, or those of the pileated woodpecker, another known species in the area, requires a permit. 

It’s marked as probable. 

Unfortunately, the group has to settle for that as they are unable to get any closer.

It’s an encouraging sign so early in the search. 

The group heads upriver. 

It doesn’t take long to find further success. What appears to be an abandoned boathouse stands tilted over the river’s edge. Rusted metal sheets peel away from its wood frame, flapping in the breeze. 

 

 

As the canoes approach, barn swallows shoot out from the dark interior, their distinctive swooping flight pattern unmistakable. 

Peering inside, the hardened mud of their nests are clearly visible clinging to the wooden rafters. It’s hard to fathom how the government consultants missed such obvious signs. 

 

Barn swallow nests found inside a boat house along the Holland River, confirming habitat for this species of special concern in the path of the Bradford Bypass.

(Joel Wittnebel/The Pointer)

 

It reinforces what Malcolmson already knows, the studies conducted for this highway have not gone far enough. 

 


 

If you listen to the PC government, the Bradford Bypass is a much-needed, responsibly-planned and meticulously studied highway that will relieve congestion in the fast growing York Region north of Toronto. All the negative environmental impacts will be mitigated to the greatest extent possible. 

If you listen to opponents of the highway, it is poorly planned, will cause irreversible environmental damage that could trigger a domino effect of harm that leads to Lake Simcoe, threatening its already vulnerable ecosystem. The bypass will do next to nothing to solve traffic issues in the area over the long term and any economic benefits that result from the project will be completely overshadowed by the climate impacts and loss of natural services from the surrounding greenspace, critics point out. 

Only one of these claims is based in fact—and it’s not one made by the ruling government.

Ontario’s auditor general recently chastised the PC government for its failure to provide accurate information to the public about key legislative changes that have serious environmental implications. The PCs have instead focused on defending and marketing their own plan.
In postings on the Environmental Registry, a platform designed to inform the public about legislative changes with implications for the environment, the PC government routinely misled the public, the AG states. 

“We found that some ministries used self-congratulatory language and promotional wording in their proposal notices, seemingly trying to persuade rather than strictly inform the public about the proposals and their environmental implications,” the auditor’s 2024 annual report states. This reinforces what the previous auditor general, Bonnie Lysyk, noted about the tendency of this government to be vague and misleading when it comes to changes to environmental legislation, despite the damaging consequences. Lysyk found the PCs altered registry postings for projects that had the potential to harm species at risk, preventing the public from understanding the true extent of what the government was attempting to do. 

“Ministry staff removed all references relating to killing, harming, harassing, damaging, and destroying—all of which are the prohibited activities spelled out in the Act,” the 2021 audit found. 

This wasn’t a one off. Reviewing a sample of postings since 2019, Lysyk found 52 percent of them contained similar “understated language”. She recommended the government work to improve the language of these postings to better inform the public. The PCs refused. 

The same misleading rhetoric is used when the PC government talks about the Bradford Bypass.

Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria, and his predecessor Caroline Mulroney consistently claim construction of the bypass will help reduce congestion in the area and save drivers more than a half-hour in their commute. 

The claim is speculative and based on a questionable study.

According to the Final Environmental Impact Assessment Report for the bypass, citing a traffic study completed as part of the prep work for the highway, the estimated travel time savings for commuters is up to 33 minutes. This figure is based on an extensive geographic area which includes all of York Region south of Keswick and Simcoe County south of Innisfil Beach Road. It’s a study area that includes nearly all of York Region and a large chunk of southern Simcoe County. It found the majority of cars moved at “acceptable levels” during both peak periods studied. How a 16-kilometre connection between Highways 400 and 404, north of York’s major population centres like Richmond Hill, Vaughan and Markham would result in any time savings in those cities remains unclear. The estimate is semi-educated guesswork. 

Early reports highlighted the limited impact this outdated highway would have on the surrounding area, including in the nearby city of Newmarket. The Ministry of Transportation (MTO) previously shared a set of maps that depict traffic levels in the area with, and without the bypass in the year 2041. The benefits appear negligible with congestion relief on a small number of local roads. Two main thoroughfares in downtown Bradford would see relief, along with certain east-west roadways on the eastern side of the Holland River such as Queensville Sideroad. Limited benefits are recorded in Newmarket, and limited relief on Davis Road into the Newmarket city centre. Hardly the 33-minute total being repeated by PC politicians. Advocates like Forbid Roads Over Greenspaces (FROGS) have pointed out that expanding and connecting existing local roadways in Bradford-West Gwillumbury, a much cheaper and less environmentally destructive approach, would have similar benefits without the need for the highway. These options include extensions and expansions to four lanes of Bradford’s 8th Line and Ravenshoe Road across the Holland River to connect with regional roads on the opposite side. 

The bypass itself is expected to see similar congestion levels to Highway 400 and 404 by 2041, and it will do absolutely nothing to solve congestion issues on these highways it connects. In fact, congestion will actually get worse on these major highways by 2041, even if the bypass gets built.

This is all without considering the consequences from induced demand should the PC government continue to push its outdated strategy of expanding and adding new roads in Ontario instead of a concerted effort to transition funding to high order public transit. 

Induced demand is a simple enough concept to understand, but the allure of the open road can complicate it. 

Imagine it’s Saturday morning at the grocery store. Five of the six checkout lines are operating and filled deep with shoppers. In an effort to alleviate the congestion and speed up the flow, the manager has an employee open the final register. We all know what happens next. The light flicks on, one or two shoppers from the backs of the other long lines push over to the open checkout. In a blink, the new open lane is nearly as long as the others, and after a few moments, it is, as other shoppers complete their lists and join the queue. 

This is induced demand, and repeated studies have shown that this analogy extrapolated out to the transportation network is exactly what happens when new lanes are added to existing highways. Ontarians don’t need studies to prove this. The strategy to fix Highway 401 has been to add more and more lanes for decades. It remains one of the most congested highways in the world. So what would make the Bradford Bypass any different? The answer: nothing. And the PC government knows this. 

Internal documents first reported by The Trillium show that even with construction of Bradford Bypass and Highway 413, the PCs know Ontario will be grappling with crippling congestion in the years ahead. 

When all the facts point to desperately needed investments in alternative modes of transportation, the PCs are doubling down on dangerous highways, misleading the public about the benefits and ignoring the disastrous environmental consequences. 

The PCs have not considered alternatives to the bypass, only looking at possible alterations to the existing route. The changes to environmental assessment legislation pushed through by the PCs in 2021 allowed the government to move forward without considering alternatives, despite such a study being one of the requirements listed in 2002 EA.

The final environmental impact assessment completed for the bypass is a 618-page report filled with technical jargon, pages of charts and data and fine print. But reading between the lines it’s easy to see it for the horror novel it really is. 

It details a litany of widespread environmental harm, much of it permanent, to the Lake Simcoe Watershed; the Holland Marsh Wetland Complex and the species that call these greenspaces home.

In the same way a wildfire begins with just a single spark before wind breathes life into the flames that spread over vast areas, the bypass will trigger harms that ripples out from the roadway to impact an area hundreds, if not thousands of football fields in size. 

The lands that would be destroyed or irreversibly harmed include 64 hectares of meadowland (a hectare is about 2.5 football fields); 22.4 hectares of deciduous forest and 20.6 hectares of deciduous swamp, both valuable habitat and carbon sinks; nearly 5 hectares of the provincially significant Holland Marsh and 7.9 hectares of the Holland Marsh Wetland Complex; a staggering 128 hectares of Greenbelt; and 23.4 hectares of unevaluated wetlands, meaning the true value of this loss can not be stated. 

 

The land that will be lost to the Bradford Bypass is prime farmland and home to hundreds of species

(Joel Wittnebel/The Pointer)

 

Approximately 39 percent of this land is Class 1 Farmland, the most fertile in the province. This means that during unprecedented levels of food insecurity in Ontario the PCs are willing to destroy the best soil we have to build a highway with no proven benefits. A further 29 percent of the land is Class 3 Farmland, which has “fair to moderately high” productivity for crops. 

The bypass will also impact 17 archaeological sites, one of which, the Lower Landing, has been labelled by experts as “more significant that 95 percent of all historic/arcaeological sites in Canada”. An alteration to the route in order to avoid the nearby Silver Lakes Golf Course, which is owned by the father of PC MPP Stan Cho, placed the Lower Landing directly in the path of the bypass. 

The harm from this highway will either be immediate, with machinery levelling, tearing and flattening to make way for the paved surface, or be much more insidious. Pollutants leaching out from passing cars and tires, contaminating the water and poisoning fish and other wildlife. There’s also the threat of construction machinery spreading invasive species by picking them up in their dirty treads and carrying them out. Approximately 85 plants were identified as invasive within the study area, some of them categorized as “highly invasive”. 

 

A young American Bittern feeds on the edges of the Holland River.

(Joel Wittnebel/The Pointer)

 

Rebecca Rooney, an associate professor at the University of Waterloo and expert in wetland ecology, tells The Pointer that new studies have found a compound from rubber tires is having deadly impacts on fish, especially in waterways already polluted by things like chloride—present in almost every waterway in Ontario—and heavy metals.

“Those heavy metals have an effect that is synergistic with the salt,” she explains. “The effect of the salt alone and the effect of the heavy metal alone is less than their combined effect on species because of the interactions.”

Thousands of aquatic species could suffocate on the salt that is dumped onto this highway to keep it safe in the winter. The Highway 404 extension near Lake Simcoe led to drastically elevated salt pollution in the surrounding watersheds, often at levels harmful to wildlife. The dead zones chloride creates in the water table offer a slow, painful death to any fish or aquatic species that happens to dwell there too long.

Above the water, hundreds of plant species will be harmed or destroyed—327 were recorded within the study area, 19 considered locally rare—along with 63 bird species, 28 of which displayed probable breeding activity in the area.

The highway will cause permanent displacement of many of these species. 

At least 5.2 million cubic metres of soil will need to be excavated to build this highway. This is enough soil to fill the entire Empire State Building more than five times. 

At least 12 species at risk will lose habitat, the study notes. A previous investigation by The Pointer using provincial data identified 11 species spotted in the area over the last six months.

It will disrupt deer habitat, including 44.3 hectares of wintering area for these mammals. This creates a significant risk of wildlife collisions as basically for the entire length of the highway, save for the bridges over branches of the Holland River, there is a risk of a deer running into the road. As the study notes, three of these areas are “high quality foraging habitat”—meaning deer are present there, a lot.  

It’s not just active wildlife at risk either. Construction threatens to unearth hibernating reptiles, and the clearing of vegetation threatens to crush existing nests for many species of birds, including the eastern whippoorwill, a threatened species. The highway overlaps approximately 21 hectares of their habitat.

There are raptor wintering areas and nesting grounds; waterfowl stopovers, bat maternity colonies, migratory corridors for many fish species; and the roadway will require 51 crossings over 34 different watercourses. This requires the installation or update of 31 culverts, 23 of which are identified as critical crossings for fish, 17 of them provide “direct” fish habitat. At least 10 of these waterways will require realignment. The impact of these hydrological changes are nearly impossible to predict. 

“All river relocation channels present an artificial discontinuity between natural sections of a river. This artificial channel seldom has the identical physical characteristics of the adjoining upstream and downstream reaches,” geomorphologists Alissa Flatley, Ian Rutherfurd and Ross Hardie wrote in the journal, Water. “As such, river relocation channels can be considered as large-scale geomorphic experiments.”

Even before the PCs hired consultants to study this natural area, it was known that building anything here, let alone a 400-series highway, was incredibly risky. 

According to the East Holland Subwatershed Plan, any change to the hydrology in the area would have significant impacts on the wetland, and noted it was “imperative” to monitor the amount of impervious surface covering the wetland, and improve it “where possible”. 

“If you put a road through a wetland, even if you have culverts that are connecting it, you are changing the flow of water, you’re also impacting the ecological connectivity,” Rooney explains. 

The vast majority (90 percent) of the drainage and runoff from the highway will end up in the Holland River—all of which discharges into Lake Simcoe. Surrounded by agricultural operations, heavy phosphorus contamination from fertilizer has already placed immense strain on the lake. In 2022, experts said without intervention, it could become a toxic lake within 37 years. While plans are in place for a system to reduce phosphorus in the lake, action to make this system a reality has been glacial. The impacts on Lake Simcoe are not being considered during the study process. Government officials have told local councils there will be no harm to Lake Simcoe, despite clear evidence to the contrary.

The plans to mitigate the damage that has been laid out above are detailed in the final assessment report prepared by the government’s hired consultants.

It does not offer much hope for opponents of the highway. 

In many instances, the study notes work will “likely follow” best practices; in some cases, including the impact of culvert installation, there was “insufficient data” to know the true scale of harm; a detailed groundwater study has not been completed (the PCs note this will be done when the freeway alignment is finalized); and in the case of protecting the endangered blandings turtle, the report notes fencing should already be in place to keep the turtles away from harm, but it does not state fencing needs to be installed if it's not already there. Following the incredibly damaging construction process areas will be re-seeded “to the extent feasible”; if construction activity takes place during bird breeding season (April-August), biologists must conduct nest searches, but only in “simple habitats”. The study provides the example of “manicured lawns”. 

Wetland habitat will be restored “where possible”; and workers are to avoid removing monarch habitat “wherever possible”. Work that takes place in or near water “should” be monitored to ensure proper mitigation; if species at risk are spotted workers “should” report them and work “should” stop. 

Much of the final assessment includes loose language like this that does not make such mitigation measures mandatory.

Even with the best mitigation measures—which the PC government has shown itself unwilling to apply or enforce, especially when it comes to the Endangered Species Act—there will still be negative outcomes for the area, much of them irreversible. You can tape a piece of paper back together after it's been ripped in half, but it will never be the same. 

Under existing laws, there are more than enough pathways for the federal government to consider intervention in this project. The Liberal government under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has failed to do so. Two requests to have the project designated under the Impact Assessment Act, which would have triggered a much more fulsome analysis, were declined. The courts chastised the Liberals for a complete failure to analyze the second request from legal experts, environmentalists and advocates which detailed the harm that falls squarely under federal jurisdiction. But, strangely, the judicial response fell short of demanding any further action from the federal government. 

Malcolmson and her team are now relying on the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) to realize there is no possible way this highway can be built without causing catastrophic harm to fish and aquatic species—which is illegal under the Fisheries Act. 

“One would think that the DFO would act as a backstop against what is clearly a sophisticated attempt to avoid scrutiny on this highway. But despite our efforts to ring alarm bells, and despite the DFO's acknowledgement of the absence of adequate information required for assessment, the DFO continues to allow Ontario to drive the timing of this project,” Malcolmson states. “The result will be that the project advances as planned and all that can be done is remediation. I don't understand why the DFO refuses to do their part."

A DFO spokesperson acknowledged that under the Fisheries Act, it is prohibited for a project to cause “harmful alteration, disruption or destruction (HADD) of fish habitat. In addition to HADD, projects cannot cause death to fish by means other than fishing.”

If there is a risk of harm, an authorization under the Fisheries Act must be obtained to proceed. In the case of the bypass, the evidence is clear. Avoiding harm to fish and their habitat will be nearly impossible. 

 

Searching for species of special concern along the Holland River.

(Joel Wittnebel/The Pointer)

 

The final government assessment notes work that must take place near or in the water has the potential to kill fish, including the de-watering that will be required to drive the bridge supports deep into the sediment bed of the Holland River. The impact of this dewatering on nearby wells remains unknown. Approximately 260 domestic, livestock, commercial, industrial, or public water supplies draw from the area. Of 143 properties on the consultant list, only 17 were reached as part of a door-to-door survey.

Removing and replacing culverts has the potential to harm fish and their habitat—the consultants recommended a DFO review for the numerous culverts that need to be installed—and this is without considering the risks of realigning numerous channels; the construction of berms and the increased sedimentation from construction that will smother fish eggs and make these areas unsuitable for spawning. The final study notes the risk of sedimentation and erosion is high across nearly the entire route.  

The PCs consultants recommended several times in their final report that a “Request for Review” be made to DFO. To date, the PC government has not made such a request for the entire project. 

“MTO will continue to meet with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans throughout the design process,” an MTO spokesperson told The Pointer when asked whether such a request would be filed. 

A Request for Review was made by MTO in January 2022, but this was only for a small portion of the early works. In July of that year, MTO submitted a draft environmental report to the federal ministry, but DFO noted “there were no project details provided to complete a thorough assessment.”

While a Request for Review is required when HADD is unavoidable, the DFO says it is currently in a holding pattern, “as the details of the project are unknown and cannot be assessed without that submission.”

The lack of action alongside bureaucratic hurdles have left advocates like Malcolmson shaking their head and is a large driver of citizens trying to take studies and analysis into their own hands. 

“When it is clear that the project could harm fish and their habitats, the DFO has a legal obligation to review the project. That's literally their job. But their history of never denying a project or activity and instead issuing letters of advice that only outline mitigation measures, reveals a pattern of the DFO not going as far as the public expects them to go to do their job to protect fish. I'd call that a dereliction of duty,” Malcolmson says. 

This appears to be standard operating procedure for DFO. 

A 2022 audit of DFO found the department was failing to protect fish and their habitat.

“Without a change in approach that enables Fisheries and Oceans Canada to collect sufficient information about all the aquatic species it is responsible for, it will be difficult to take appropriate action to protect many species,” the audit concluded. 

In the two years since the audits publication, it appears little has changed.

 


 

When the PC government took the outdated idea for a highway through the Holland Marsh off the shelf early in its first term—holding it up as the saviour to traffic congestion in the area, without any proper studies to back up such a claim—it faced fierce opposition. 

One of the groups opposed to the project, particularly how it was being rushed ahead, was the Ontario Society of Professional Engineers, which stated construction should not start without an updated EA in place, and emphasized transportation projects should be based on hard evidence proving need, not on politics. The PCs forged ahead nonetheless, ignoring the recommendation. 

An auditor general’s report in 2022 found the PC government “did not consistently plan and prioritize highway projects effectively, based on provincial infrastructure needs.” Instead, highly ranked projects that were recommended by the government’s subject matter experts were deferred at the direction of the Minister, to be replaced with projects the PCs viewed as popular, including the Bradford Bypass and Highway 413, despite evidence showing other projects would have a bigger impact on traffic issues. 

“We found that the Ministry has not established sufficient key performance indicators and targets for assessing the mobility of people and goods, highway safety, sustainability and environmental impact, and the achievement of projects on time and within budget,” the audit states. The PCs have yet to release a cost estimate for the Bradford Bypass, which the AG said could cost anywhere between $2  billion and $4 billion. At the high end, this means the bypass would cost approximately 250 million per kilometre. 

This mismanagement by the PCs is now being made even worse as they’ve split the Bradford Bypass into three different projects. The piecemealing effort means the highway is being designed and planned in three separate sections: east, central and west. In May, the contract was awarded to AECOM Canada to design the 6.5 kilometre western section of the bypass. In October, Miller/Brennan was chosen to construct this western piece. In July, the PCs announced a contract award to Dufferin Construction Company to build part of the southbound lane on Highway 400, which will connect to the future bypass, as well as reconstruction of County Road 88 for a future interchange and underpass. It’s unclear how each of these contractors will ensure construction timelines line up and each of the sections align as they come to fruition. To make matters worse, Professional Engineers Government of Ontario (PEGO) are currently carrying out rolling strikes, refusing to work on projects like the Bradford Bypass and Highway 413 due to contract disputes. It means the professionals meant to manage these complex projects are not at the table. 

“It is important to note that successful construction is a result of strong planning and design work in the early stages of complex infrastructure projects – work that PEGO' engineers and land surveyors are engaged in,” a PEGO press release states. 

According to an MTO spokesperson, continuity plans are in place to ensure work continues during any labour disruptions.

 


 

It’s mid-September. It’s another warm day on the Holland River. While the earth tilts closer to Autumn, the summer temperatures linger. 

Malcolmson and Hawke are back in their canoes, this time paddling the western branch of the Holland River, once again trying to document the harm that will befall the land and the wildlife that are visible in large numbers all around. 

 

Claire Malcolmson and David Hawke consult while paddling the Holland River.

(Joel Wittnebel/The Pointer)

 

This meandering section of the river is a thin strip of cut glass pressed flat into green expanses of farm fields. Algal blooms, fueled by the excess phosphorus and other nutrients dumped onto the surrounding crops, are thick enough to mire a canoe in sludge. Crickets chirp, an eagle and an osprey have a territorial battle in the skies above. Water lilies bloom white and brilliant.

 

The pair halt their canoes in the spot where GPS coordinates tell them is the location of the future bypass. In the silence, the threat seems to loom and take physical shape. A ghostly bridge cutting through the pristine vista where cars will drone, contaminants will leech and LED lights will pour harsh, artificial light into the atmosphere, keeping birds, fish and many other species away for good. A dense forest sits quiet, naive to the looming threat, and the dereliction of duty from those who are meant to protect it. 

But the harm will extend beyond the natural world. From the middle of the Holland River, urban land uses, including residential development, can be seen approaching in the distance. 

 

Residential homes near the route of the proposed Bradford Bypass will see negative consequences should the highway be built.

(Joel Wittnebel/The Pointer)

 

Air quality studies completed for the project identified 20 “critical receptors”, jargon language that disguises the reality that five retirement homes, nine schools and six daycare centres will all experience reduced air quality as a result of the bypass being built. 

The government doesn’t even know how bad the air quality could get as these studies were not completed per Ministry guidelines. These analyses are required to consider the impacts of the project after one year, 10 years and 20 years as well as a scenario without the bypass being built. The PC consultants only studied a build and no-build scenario in 2041, citing a lack of data to conduct further analysis.

“It doesn’t make sense to build a road here,” Hawke says again, looking out across the river. 

There remains optimism in Malcolmson’s voice as she talks about how to amass further public opposition. Enough to have the government, both federally and provincially, take notice. 

Thousands of people have signed petitions against the project. Gord Miller, the former Ontario Environment Commissioner, has said the project should be axed. Ontario’s former Chief Scientist labelled the PC approach to building the bypass a “gross violation of international standards.” (Premier Ford eliminated both positions.)

Malcolmson remains steadfast. 

“We need to cast doubt on the sanity of this project.”

 

 


Email: joel.wittnebel@thepointer.com


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