Alternatives Denied - The $100,000,000 Highway 7 Fiasco

By Paul Langan

Reprint of a book released in 2000 detailing the critical flaws in the proposed Highway 7 plan between Kitchener and Guelph, Ontario, Canada

• Language: English
• Publisher: Paul Langan
• Release date: Mar 7, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201271909

Book preview

ALTERNATIVES DENIED

THE $100,000,000 HIGHWAY 7 FIASCO

A compilation of critiques from concerned citizens on the Highway 7 project

George Bechtel, Ben Bennett, Douglas Graham, Judith Greenwood-Speers, Julie Harwood, Paul Langan, Dave Locky, Jennifer Niece, Michael Parkinson, Steve Vogel, Liz Wharton

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

To the citizens and groups who have supported the creation of this booklet, a giant thanks. A special thanks to my wife Debra and children Dylan and Katie for always being so supportive. Paul Langan, February 7, 2000

Dedication

The reprint of this book in 2022 is dedicated to the late George Bechtel who dedicated so many years to fighting for increased passenger rail in Ontario.

Photo Credits - front cover - Lewis Hurley, Blue Heron and Kingfisher - Peter LaTourrette, Raging Grannies Protesters - Paul Langan

1st edition – 2000

2nd edition -2022

If there are any net profits from this 2nd edition of the book will be donated to Haven House in Cambridge Ontario.

Alternatives denied: the $100,000,000 Highway 7 fiasco:

a compilation of critiques

ISBN  978-1-7778643-6-1

Copyright 2022 Paul Langan

[e-mail]

paullangan.com

All rights reserved

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Forward

1. Introduction & History

2. Highway 7 And The Environmental  Assessment Process

3. Overview Of  Environmental  Concerns

4. Breeding Bird Survey

5. Sustainability And Political  Decision Making Or How The  Dinosaurs Plan Our Lives"

6. Solutions Can Be Reached By Expanding And Improving  The Existing Hwy.7

7. Highway 7 Commuters Survey - Waterloo Public Interest  Research Group

8. Petition And Public Survey - Westmount Environmental  Group Survey

9. There Are Alternatives

10. Ontario Environmental  Bill Of Rights And Highway 7

11. Integrated Multi Modal Planning Solutions To Highway 7 Ignored

12. Skullduggery At The Ontario Ministry Of Transportation

13. A Lighter Perspective Of The Situation

Appendix 1: How Much Money Had Mccormick And Rankin Consultants Been Paid For Work On The Highway 7 Project From 1999-2001? $1,190,000

FORWARD

Reading this booklet again 20 years after it originally came out still bothers me. Back then, the consultants and some politicians pontificated the doom and gloom scenarios of what would happen if the then new Highway 7 was not built. In 2022, the highway is still not built and somehow we have survived. 

Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of this historical research was the incestuous relationship between the road engineering firms and the Ontario Ministry of Transportation. The Ministry had public consultations across the province about what Ontario’s future transportation plan would look like. Who would be in charge of these consultations? The road engineering firms would run the consultations! The end result back then was an Ontario Transportation Plan which was 98% about building new roads. And who would the government hire to design these roads? The same road engineering firms that ran the consultations! It really was skullduggery in action watching the Ministry and their consultants back then.

When compiling the book in 2000, I was fortunate to have met members of the public who submitted the chapters that made up the book. A giant thank you to them.

What is the cost of the highway now and do we really need it?

The Cost

In 1999 the cost to do the new Highway 7 was $100,000,000.

According to a Woolwich Observer newspaper article on July 20th, 2000: When construction got underway in 2015, the project was expected to take five years to complete at a total cost of about $300 million. To date, the ministry has spent approximately $70 million on property acquisition, and another $50 million on construction.

What would be the real cost now to complete the new Highway 7? We really do not know.

Do We Need the New Highway 7 in 2022?

The Covid-19 pandemic has changed how we do our work. Alternative working arrangements such as working at home have become increasingly popular. People and companies have realized the improved productivity, decrease in stress and improvement in work life balance that occurs when you are NOT driving on the highways commuting to and from work.

We need to make the massive highway-building mindset obsolete. 18 lanes of Highway 401 around Pearson Airport has not decreased congestion and it never will. There is nothing sustainable about a car-dependent society.

Sadly, as of the reprinting of this publication, the provincial Conservative government under Doug Ford is proposing another massive highway building plan. Ford says the proposed Highway 413 will solve congestion. History has shown us that Ford’s logic is dead wrong.

Enjoy reading this look back to the year 2000 when citizens banded together and exposed the critical flaws in the Highway 7 plan.

Paul Langan

Hespeler, Ontario

April 1st, 2022

1. INTRODUCTION & HISTORY

Michael