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| Coming soon to Durham Region? |
If you ask most citizens of Durham Region, you will likely get a response in favour of the extension of the 407 to Highways 35 and 115.
But why? Do we just want to win the fight? Do we just want the Provincial government to follow through on a promise signed in 2007? Or are there real, substantial reasons to continue this major highway?
In 2007, the Federal and Provincial government signed the FLOW Agreement to extend the popular toll-highway eastward to Highways 35/115 complete by 2013. Recently, many of us are already aware, that the Provincial government has broken this agreement by breaking the extension into phases. The proposed plan has the 407 ending at Harmony Rd in 2015, and then finally to the 35/115 by the year 2020, seven years after what was initially signed in 2007.
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| Proposed map of Highway 407 extension east |
According to the Toronto Board of Trade, traffic patterns and gridlock cost Toronto $6 billion dollars a year in lost production. New York City and Los Angeles, two of North America's largest cities have an average commute time of 77 minutes and 57 minutes, respectively. GTA residents face commute times that average 79 minutes. A completed 407 would immediately increase production and literally have paid for itself in the first year, not to mention the saving of valuable commute times allowing us all more time to spend with our families.
How do you feel? Is it worth the fight?
For more information, click on the following links:
Oshawa City Hall
Stephen Young
Honestly, I don't care about the 407 extension. Why should the provincial government pay for an extension of a highway that they don't, and can't, profit from. The company that runs the 407 is a bunch of thieves who have been given far more power than they ever should have been allowed. So the only advantage to people who can't afford ridiculous prices to use the highway is that perhaps those who CAN afford it and are willing to waste the money will be using the 407 instead of the 401.
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