Shorter commutes or long-term environmental damage? Brampton residents divided over Highway 413

When Balkiran Dhillon drives to Brampton from Caledon for work, he faces heavy traffic and gridlock that cuts into his personal time with his family.

While he's seen the Ford government's proposed Highway 413 described as controversial and environmentally problematic, every morning and evening he wonders how much longer his commute will be as Brampton's population is expected to grow by almost 100,000 in the coming decade, according to the Region of Peel's population forecast.

Driving north-south on arterial roads or Highway 410 are his only options. The 413 would change that, he believes, as the provincial government is promising the highway will cut his commute time by 30 minutes.

"It can save me 15 to 20 minutes each way if we have a highway," Dhillon said. "Because right now, I have to go through the main roads and they get more and more congested every day."

The Ford government committed funding for Highway 413 in its fall economic statement on Nov. 1, although its mini-budget did not list an estimated cost of the highway or a construction start date.

But while some like Dhillon support the highway, others are concerned that their existing commutes might increase. They also worry about the environment and housing affordability.

"I think in some ways, it'll make my commute worse," Divya Arora said.

Arora takes Hwy. 410 northbound to get home; her exit is the last one before the highway ends. She says because Hwy. 410 is expected to link with Hwy. 413, her commute time will actually increase as more drivers will seek to head northbound, which would increase traffic and congestion on her route.

Arora is part of Peel's Community Climate Council, a youth-led, non-profit environmental organization that pushed the Region of Peel to call for a federal environmental assessment on the highway.

'Lack of livability'

Her concerns with the 413 are its potential impact on the Greenbelt, the loss of farmland, unchecked sprawl from upcoming developments leading to a "lack of livability" and a lack of affordable housing.

"There's a lot of misinformation that this highway will solve congestion. Highways do not solve congestion because of induced demand, which is jargon for once you provide a service, more people opt to use it," Arora said.

"It attracts drivers to use this route that otherwise wouldn't have," she added.

She thinks there are better options, and better ways the province can spend the money, like investing in Brampton transit and offering incentives for green vehicles.

Alexander Adams is also concerned about the impact on the Greenbelt and the affordability of the new housing developments along the highway. He thinks the urban boulevard option endorsed by Brampton city council in August 2020 is better.

"You get double the amount of homes, double the amount of jobs," Adams said.

Homes built around a boulevard instead of a highway, he says, would also be more affordable because there would be more high density housing, including duplexes, rowhouses and apartments, rather than just single-family homes. 

While the highway will have no impact on his daily commute, he's concerned about its environmental impact.

"It'll affect my life, my kids' life, because you're going to encourage more cars on roads, more congestion because of induced demand, and you're going to pave over the Greenbelt."

Yet, commuters like Dhillon think the highway is needed, given the expected population growth and all the trucking, courier and warehousing businesses Brampton depends on. Citing a 2017 Region of Peel report, he says four out of nine jobs in the region are related to those industries.

"A highway can help the whole region's economy," he added, saying it will create more jobs, help with productivity, and allow for people to spend more time with their families.

But Arora and Adams propose solutions like allowing trucks to use Hwy. 407 with a reduced or eliminated toll.

"We have the 407, which is parallel [to the proposed route of Highway 413], if we want to relieve congestion, I don't understand why we're not sending trucks there," Adams said.

"It frees up space on the 401, and gives people a chance to utilize existing infrastructure," Arora said. 

Sylvia Menezes Roberts, a member of Brampton's transit advisory committee, says the highway has been factored into a number of municipal and regional plans.

For example, Mayfield Road — which serves as a dividing line between Brampton and Caledon — is already slated to be widened.

"It assumes a freeway roughly equivalent to the 413 is coming and that will be taking a lot of traffic off local roads [during construction]" Roberts said.

"But if the 413 doesn't show up, unless we change how the development is being done along the Brampton-Caledon border, those cars will still show up, resulting in Mayfield Road being a nonstop congested road," she added.

"I'm generally against the 413; its goal is to provide servicing for a whole bunch of houses," she said. "That's one way to do it, but it's not the best way."

Instead, Roberts suggests focusing on building more transit to accommodate existing homes and anticipated housing in north Brampton and south Caledon. Those new builds should aim to be higher density, she added.

Roberts suggests focusing instead on bus rapid transit as an effective and cheap solution.

And since she commutes to Mohawk College in Hamilton from south Brampton, the highway will have no effect on her commute time, she notes.