Feds allow rework of Hwy 69 enviro assessments

The federal government has decided to allow environmental assessments on the four-laning of Highway 69 from Sudbury to Toronto to be broken up, which means the project can move ahead without delay.

In January of 2010, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that environmental assessments on those types of expansions had to be done all at once. Sudbury MPP Rick Bartolucci said doing one big assessment would have slowed the project too much and negotiators found a compromise.

"The federal government has agreed with our plan to break the project into five different phases, allowing for environmental assessments on each of those phases, so that we can move forward," he said.

"While one phase is being done, the environmental assessments can be carried out on the other phases so that there's a continuum of construction."

Transport Canada, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada have accepted the Ontario Ministry of Transportations proposal.

Bartolucci said 2017 is still the target for four-laning the remaining 102 kilometres of Highway 69 south.