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LETTER: Don't Pave over the Greenbelt

'We don't need more highways, we need to prioritize livable cities and invest in clean, green and public transportation,' reader says
LettersToTheEditor
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BradfordToday received the following Letter to the Editor from reader Marisa Adrian, who expresses concerns with the bypass: 

Dear Editor,

Highway 413 will only take 30 seconds off of commute time.. saving 30 seconds of driving time will harm 2,000 acres of farmland, cut through 85 waterways, damage 220 wetlands and disrupt the habitats of 10 species-at-risk.

Doug Ford refuses to discuss how much highway 413 will cost, but experts say it will take at least $10 billion from the public purse.

The Ford government ignored its own consultants' advice and chose the route of MAX destruction. Doug Ford appointed a Greenbelt Council chair who voted against the Greenbelt after 7 members of Ontario’s Greenbelt Council resigned in protest of his bill that would shift the power of approval for development applications from local conservation authorities to the Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry.

It will add over 17 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions in the next 30 years and be detrimental to over 29 federally listed species at risk.

An expert panel found that the mega highway will only save drivers 30-60 seconds.

We don't need more highways, we need to prioritize livable cities and invest in clean, green and public transportation.

Sincerely,
Marisa Adrian,
Oro Station