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Introduction
Our
group is opposed to an expressway down the middle of Red
Hill Valley. Over 90% of the proposed 7.5 kilometre road
would be INSIDE our park (designated an Environmentally
Significant Area). Over 40,000 trees would be cut down,
and the six interchanges would carve the valley into at
least 30 separate pieces. Plans include re-locating and
re-constructing seven kilometres of Red Hill Creek (to reduce
the number of expressway crossings to eight).
East
Hamilton's air quality would be further degraded along with
people's health. The road planners have already warned that
the elderly and the young "should be encouraged to
limit their exposures, and not frequent the Red Hill Valley
once the expressway has been completed."
The
$220 million construction cost will drive up the already
high property taxes and accelerate urban sprawl. It will
also force increased borrowing at a time when essential
maintenance of water and sewer pipes is being shortchanged
by $55 million a year in Hamilton.
The
loss of parkland and the environmental destruction caused
by the expressway will worsen Hamilton's polluted reputation
and send new good-paying high-tech and information age jobs
to other communities which take better care of their quality
of life.
(For
recent information on the expressway, please also refer
to the "Updates" section and the latest "Newsletter"
pages on this site)
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Basic
Facts about Red Hill Valley and the proposed Red Hill
Creek Expressway
The
Red Hill Valley
- is
700 hectares (1600 acres) of mostly forested natural
area and parkland
- has
over 600 plant species representing 22% of the native
flora of Ontario
- has
over 25 mammal species including fox, coyote, deer,
mink and southern flying squirrel
- provides
a migration corridor for at least 177 species of
birds
- provides
breeding habitat for over 75 bird species
- has
at least 24 species of fish in the creek
- is
home to over 45 species of butterflies
- is
designated by the City as an Environmentally Significant
Area
- over
half the valley is part of the Niagara Escarpment
World Biosphere Reserve
The
proposed Red Hill Creek Expressway
- is
7.5 kilometres long, and has six interchanges
- is
over 90% within natural areas of the valley
- will
impact 22 known archaeological sites
- includes
blasting a hole in the face of the Niagara Escarpment
80 metres wide and 12 metres deep
- includes
re-locating the creek and building 7.6 kilometres
of new creek
- will
cross the existing creek at least 14 times, and
will cross the re-located creek 8 times
- will
clear at least 25% of the valley
- will
remove over 44,000 trees (latest estimate by the
City)
- will
double the number of bad air days in east Hamilton
- requires
opening up the toxic Rennie dump and excavating
70,000 tonnes
- will
cost $197 million to complete contruction
-
$75 million will be borrowed by the City, the province
will pay $122 million
The
Greenhill interchange work by Dufferin Construction
- will
cost $3.4 million
- will
clear half a hectare of King's Forest Park
- will
extend Greenhill Avenue into the valley and build
a bridge for the interchange
- will
put up noise walls and/or berms
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