Ontario pitches accelerated environmental assessment for Hwy. 413 [Video]

The province wants to create an “accelerated environmental assessment process” for Highway 413 as part of proposed legislation aimed at speeding up construction on priority highway projects in Ontario.

According to the provincial government, the new bill, titled the Building Highways Faster Act, will look at new ways of speeding up construction on multiple projects, including the Bradford Bypass, the Garden City Skyway bridge, and Highway 413, a six-lane, 52-kilometre throughway that will connect Halton and York regions.

Details of the new bill have not been released but the province said the legislation would “streamline utility relocations, accelerate access to property and property acquisitions and introduce new penalties for obstructing access for field investigations or damaging equipment.”

The province noted that new legislation, if passed, would allow regulation to facilitate “around-the-clock, 24/7 construction on priority highway projects.”

“Every minute wasted in traffic is a minute that could be spent with …