In a recent visit to Hamilton, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said that the province will “seriously consider” taking over the Red Hill and Lincoln Alexander (LINC) parkways from the city.
Ford said he had a “little get together” with Hamilton Mayor Andrea Horwath, and that was one of the things that she asked of the government.
Ford continued, “And we’ll seriously consider it because it’s a real burden financially on Hamilton, and we’ve done it for other jurisdictions, and I just believe it’s only fair to do it here.”
“I’m not saying we’re doing it. I’m just saying we’re going to have a good discussion on it. So we’ll look at it. And that allows the mayor and Council to reallocate those funds into other areas that might be more productive,” Ford concluded.
Hamilton City Council passed a motion in December 2023 to have staff begin discussions with the Ontario Ministry of Transportation to examine the possibility of uploading the two parkways to the province to operate, but there have been no known developments yet on that front.
The city spends significant municipal funding to maintain both parkways and cover improvements.
Among those improvements, the City of Hamilton will be rebuilding the banking on a curved stretch of the Red Hill Parkway that runs from Greenhill Avenue to King Street.
Consulting company AECOM recommended the move following the Red Hill Valley Inquiry into the parkway’s safety.
The project carries an estimated cost between $4 million and $5 million and will be incorporated into the 2026 Capital Budget.
Hamilton City Council has also received a report from engineering consultant Morrison Hershfield Limited about expanding the Red Hill Parkway and the LINC to three lanes in each direction.
However, widening of the parkways also carries a significant cost, which would put a burden on the municipal taxpayers.
High-level cost estimates predict that the costs for a six-lane widening of the LINC would be $81.5 million, while the Red Hill would cost $56.2 million.
Staff also note that both parkways were originally designed to ultimately be six lanes wide but were built to four lanes.
The Morrison Hershfield study says that both the LINC and the Red Hill “need to be improved and optimized” due to projected population increases within Hamilton.
Council also previously received a report from staff stating that their 2023 downtown truck ban has caused a large increase in truck volume on the Red Hill Valley Parkway and Lincoln Alexander Parkway.
From 2023 to the end of 2024, heavy truck volume increased dramatically on the Red Hill Valley Parkway (+87.5 per cent) and the Lincoln Alexander Parkway (+68.6 per cent).
Of note, staff wrote that future action is needed to “continue to advance planning for capacity improvements on the Lincoln Alexander Parkway and Red Hill Valley Parkway.”
Indeed, the Lincoln Alexander Parkway, which was completed in 1997, sees an approximate average of 88,000 vehicles per day, while the Red Hill Valley Parkway, completed in 2007, sees 92,000 vehicles.
Both parkways are reportedly operating at or above capacity during morning and afternoon rush hour.
In November 2023, the Gardiner Expressway and Don Valley Parkway were uploaded to the Ontario government as part of their “New Deal Between Ontario and Toronto.”
The province said at the time that the two roadways are “nationally significant economic corridors tied to the provincial highway network.”
Both the Red Hill Parkway and the LINC could also be classified as “nationally significant,” and both roadways connect to provincial highways.
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.
