Hamilton City Council voted in December to direct Mayor Andrea Horwath and the City of Hamilton’s government relations staff to facilitate official discussions with the Government of Ontario regarding control over the city’s two municipal parkways. Photo Credit: Wikipedia.
Hamilton City Council voted in December to direct Mayor Andrea Horwath and the City of Hamilton’s government relations staff to facilitate official discussions with the Government of Ontario regarding control over the city’s two municipal parkways.
The Red Hill Valley Parkway and Lincoln M. Alexander Parkway (the Linc) are both currently maintained by the City of Hamilton, but councillors want the province to take over ownership, operation, and maintenance of the costly roads.
Operating costs for the parkways are about $775,000 per year.
In addition, the Red Hill Parkway repaving in 2019 cost the city $12.5 million, an infamous inquiry into the safety of the road cost about $28 million, and estimated costs to potentially expand both parkways from four lanes to six lanes were once estimated at as much as $61 million with an associated increase in operating costs of about $600,000 annually.
As such, a provincial takeover of the parkways would free up significant room in the municipal budget.
Since the Government of Ontario recently agreed to take over responsibility of the Gardiner Expressway and the Don Valley Parkway from the City of Toronto, Hamilton councillors decided that it would be an opportune time for them to ask the same.
It should be noted, however, that the City of Toronto offered the province something in exchange for taking over ownership of the parkways: the municipality will be staying out of the ongoing debate regarding the future of Ontario Place.
In the case of Hamilton, councillors hope that the province will not want anything in exchange.
Councillor Maureen Wilson (Ward 1 – Chedoke-Cootes-Westdale) brought forward the motion to have the city begin discussions with the province regarding the matter.
She reasoned that the Red Hill is a direct link to the Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) which is owned and operated by the Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO).
Similarly, the Linc directly takes drivers to the provincially owned and operated Highway 403.
Wilson also mentioned that the Niagara Region’s Highway 406, which is similar to the Red Hill and the Linc, is already provincially operated.
She said that the city is in an “untenable, unsustainable” financial position by having to maintain the roads.
Councillor Brad Clark (Ward 9 – Upper Stoney Creek), who previously served as the province’s Minister of Transportation, strongly voiced his support for Wilson’s motion.
He noted that media discussions of the matter have focused on what the city would have to offer the province in return and countered that an “exchange” of some sort is “not even close to what we’re talking about.”
Clark contends that the province should, in theory, be interested in taking over the parkways because of the high traffic demand for the roadways and their economic importance.
He adds that those two motives should be reason enough without the province expecting some sort of deal.
Councillor Beattie added that the City of Hamilton has struggled to manage the parkways, something which the province has a better capacity to do.
“We saw recently that we’re not able to maintain overhead signs and we’ve had to actually remove those and replace them,” said Beattie. “We don’t have the equipment; we don’t necessarily have the expertise. We’re not necessarily in the business of operating expressways.”
Council passed Wilson’s motion unanimously in a 15-0 vote.
Nevertheless, it remains unclear if the province is even open to the idea.
The MTO, which is led by Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria, has simply commented in a statement that they will “continue to work” with cities “to help ensure the sustainability of municipal infrastructure across Ontario.”
Based in Hamilton, he reaches hundreds of thousands of people monthly on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. He has been published in The Hamilton Spectator, Stoney Creek News, and Bay Observer. He has also been a segment host with Cable 14 Hamilton. In 2017, he received the Chancellor Full Tuition Scholarship from the University of Ottawa (BA, 2022). He has also received the Governor General’s Academic Medal. He formerly worked in a non-partisan role on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
