With last week’s budget update from Premier Doug Ford neglecting to mention Highway 69, Sudbury NDP MPP Jamie West is worried the highway’s four-laning will not be completed.
"Doug Ford failed the people of Sudbury by breaking his 2018 election promise to complete the four-laning of Highway 69,” West said in a release issued earlier today.
“We were already let down by then-Transportation Minister Stephen Del Duca, who is now the Liberal leader, and we’re still being let down.”
Completing work on the north-south highway linking Greater Sudbury with Toronto has been in the works for years and was a pledge the Liberals made approximately 15 years ago.
At the time of last month’s throne speech, West expressed cautious optimism that the province would finally complete the longstanding highway four-laning, for which 68 kilometres have yet to have been completed.
Of particular note in the speech delivered by Lt.-Gov. Elizabeth Dowdeswell on behalf of Premier Doug Ford was a line about building an economy that makes Ontario the best place in the world to do business, work and raise a family, “no matter where you live in the province.”
With the tabling of last week’s budget update, West appears a bit less optimistic.
“Now, Highway 69 is not even mentioned in the Ford government’s fall economic statement. He’s prioritizing new highways in the South, and he’s not adding funding to the Highways budget — and Northerners are worried that means we’re getting the shaft from Ford, yet again.”
West is advocating that Ford commit to immediately tendering and quickly building the final stretch of Highway 69.
Although Highway 69 was omitted from the budget update, West notes in his release that Highway 413 and the Bradford Bypass have both been included.
“The Bradford Bypass and Highway 413 in the South are pretty clearly being built primarily to make Ford’s buddies richer, since they don’t really help with commute times or safety,” West said.
“But finishing Highway 69 is making sure people get home safe to their families. It’s about making sure our parents can come visit without having to white-knuckle it on bad roads. Our families need and deserve for Highway 69 to be finished, and I’m not going to rest until it’s done.”
