Transportation
At the beginning of my current term of office in 2001, I stated that
transportation would be the number one priority. Although we have made
considerable progress, we must continue moving forward with our plans
to get traffic moving again!
- In cooperation with Vaughan, Richmond Hill
and York Region, we established a regional Transit Committee and
approved the York Rapid
Transit Plan:
- Rapid transit services will be provided along both Highway
7 and Yonge Street, with a convenient link from Markham Centre
to the TTC Don
Mills station.
- $50 million was obtained from each of the Federal,
Provincial and Regional governments and the initial services
are scheduled to begin
in 2005. Services will be provided 18 hours a day, and intermodal
terminals will improve connections with TTC and GO Transit.
- The
YRTP is a $2 billion project that will eventually allow us
to move from buses in mixed traffic lanes to dedicated transitways,
and
ultimately a Light Rail Transit and potential
subway extensions into York Region.
- The Markham Transportation
Planning Study 2002 not only
supports a rapid transit network, it also recommends
working with York Region
on a number of local roadway improvements:
- The Markham By-Pass will
be completed to the 407 by 2004.
- Major north/south roads (Warden,
Kennedy, McCowan and Leslie) will be widened with enhanced left
and right turn lanes.
- Improved connections from Markham Centre to
Highway 407 are planned. Birchmount Road and Rodick Road will
be extended to cross Highway 407
and connect with 14th Avenue.
- Road crossings over Highway 404 will be
constructed to relieve congestion on Woodbine Avenue.
- Traffic signals
will be better coordinated through computerization to reduce
the number of stops along major routes.
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