Major road project put on pause in Brampton

Brampton | Ontario | Latest News |

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Published November 19, 2019 at 4:59 pm

In a committee of council meeting on October 16, 2019, wards 1 and 5 councillors Paul Vicente and Rowena Santos put forward a motion which was approved by the council, to pause the wideni

In a committee of council meeting on October 16, 2019, wards 1 and 5 councillors Paul Vicente and Rowena Santos put forward a motion which was approved by the council, to pause the widening of Williams Parkway in Brampton.

The project, which was approved back in 2004, will now be put on pause, despite the fifteen years and resources which have already been invested into it, such as the installation of noise walls to prepare for the widening from four to six lanes.

Vicente and Santos both stated said that they don’t think six-lane roads are still a fit for Brampton’s new 2040 Vision plan.

They would also like to revisit all of the lane-expansion projects that have already approved.

“Often, the plans that we came up with many years ago, were the best information that was available at that time, but now in some areas, are in conflict with what the vision says that we want to make the city look like,” said Vicente.

“The vision doesn’t prioritize roads, instead it prioritizes the needs of pedestrians and cyclists and transit ahead of the needs of cars.”

“I think it’s time the city rethinks what it’s doing with Williams Parkway and other road widenings in general around the city of Brampton,” he added.­

This raised some concerns from other councillors about the present and future of road congestion.

Wards 3 and 4 Councillor, Jeff Bowman voiced some concerns, bringing up the fact that by 2040, a million people are expected in the city thus needing widened roads.

“Even if half the next 200,000 people that come here use active transportation instead of cars, we’re still going to have congested roads,” said Bowman.

 “If there was one road in the City of Brampton that I would say needs expansion and needed expansion many, many years ago, it would have been Williams Parkway,” said Michael Palleschi, explaining that Williams Parkway’s original design was in fact meant to accommodate expansion.

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