City council pushes for Ontario to take on two major municipal parkways in Hamilton

More than two decades after Mike Harris’ government offloaded thousands of kilometres of provincial highways to municipalities, Hamilton politicians are hoping the province is open to taking on two major municipal parkways in Hamilton.

Hamilton Mayor Andrea Horwath says she would be open to discussing a deal that would see the provincial government taking over the Lincoln M. Alexander Parkway and Red Hill Valley Parkway.

This comes after Doug Ford’s government agreed to a deal with the City of Toronto that would see the province take over the Don Valley and Gardiner expressways in exchange to not oppose a plan to re-develop Ontario Place at the city’s waterfront.

READ MORE: Province to take control of 2 Toronto highways in ‘new deal’ for city

In a statement, Horwath says like many municipalities, Hamilton is facing unsustainable infrastructure challenges that cannot be addressed by further increasing our residents’ property tax bill.

“I would welcome the opportunity to discuss a similar deal for Hamilton in which responsibility for vital infrastructure is absorbed by the province,” Horwath continued.

Ward 8 Councillor John-Paul Danko says the move would save Hamilton taxpayers millions.

“It would be a huge savings for the City of Hamilton. We have unfunded capital requirements for both of those roadways, tens of millions of dollars down the road,” Danko said.

“We’re also looking at widening in the future so that cost would also be uploaded to the province, and potentially there’s a huge amount of savings for Hamilton taxpayers.”

READ MORE: Toronto and Ontario agree to new deal involving Ontario Place

Meanwhile, in a statement to CHCH News, a spokesperson for the Ontario Minister of Transportation Pradmeet Sakaira said the deal offered to Toronto reflected what they called the city’s unique financial challenges, adding that they will continue to work with municipal partners to ensure the sustainability of municipal infrastructure.

But local NDP MPP Sandy Shaw says that’s not good enough.

“Hamilton deserves to have the same kind of support as Toronto does. You know Doug Ford has not been a supportive partner for municipalities and if he was able to step up for Toronto, he can step up for Hamilton,” Shaw said.

Hamilton Ward 1 Councillor Maureen Wilson is expected to move a motion on the matter at council on Wednesday.