FOG in the news

http://www.insidehalton.com/community/milton/article/802703

Tim Foran, CANADIAN CHAMPION STAFF Apr 20, 2010 - 11:05 AM

Group objects to James Snow Parkway extension

An Oakville environmental group is concerned about the Region’s planned extension of James Snow Parkway south from Milton to Oakville.

It’s also making a last ditch appeal to Halton regional council to abandon plans to extend and widen Burnhamthorpe Road across the Sixteen Mile Creek valley to connect Bronte Road to Neyagawa Boulevard.

Both proposed regional road projects would slice through the Glenorchy Conservation Area, noted a presentation made by Friends of Glenorchy member Diane Burton at council’s planning and public works committee Wednesday.

Halton regional council will be asked tomorrow to endorse the preferred route for a new $208 million north Oakville transportation corridor, essentially a realigned and extended Burnhamthorpe Road.

The road is designed to be a major artery serving future north Oakville development between Dundas Street and Hwy. 407, including the new Oakville hospital. However, the Friends of Glenorchy are concerned the new road will cut through recently protected natural lands.

A map included in Burton’s presentation also raised concern about the Region’s plans to extend James Snow Parkway from Milton to Hwy. 407, where it would meet Neyagawa Boulevard, but also cut through the northeast portion of Glenorchy.

“James Snow Parkway will impact interior forest, provincially rare habitat, species of special concern, (and) species that are rare in Halton region,” a comment on the map noted.

Milton Regional Councillor Colin Best said in an interview Friday the James Snow extension, a controlled access road, must go ahead for the good of all of Halton.

“If not, it will just jam up other roads in the area,” said Best. “The James Snow extension has been planned for almost 20 years. It is basically the last piece of the puzzle in terms of connecting Oakville and Milton because Trafalgar Road and Hwy. 25 were never built to handle this type of network. They basically have driveways going on it (them) and that’s part of the reason we have so many accidents on both roads.”

Best said there were no objections raised when Hwy. 407 and Upper Middle Road were both extended through the Sixteen Mile Creek valley. He said there were also no objections to the widening of the QEW bridge over the creek, currently under construction.

“I don’t see a problem if it’s done environmentally correctly,” he said.


Additional Comments by this blogger:

Please note that Glenorchy was only designated a Conservation Area in 2008. This new designation should offer protection to the area and the species at-risk who reside within it. Colin Best says these plans have been in the works for 20 years. but there have been many changes to people's thinking in the last 20 years. 20 years ago, McDonald's was still using styrofoam packaging, blue-bin recycling was still a relatively new program in Halton, the list of endangered and at-risk species has grown, and we now know that we must protect what little green space we have left.


Please email Colin Best at colin.best@milton.ca and tell him this archaic way of thinking does NOT reflect the new Halton; we value and want to protect the area, and alternative routes can be possible if we think outside the box.


Link to map of Glenorchy: http:///







.