June 1st, 2018

NDP to remove tolls from Highway 412

WHITBY – Durham Region NDP candidates Niki Lundquist, Jennifer French and Joel Usher announced Friday that Andrea Horwath and the NDP will remove the tolls from Highway 412, and prevent the roll-out of tolls on planned Highway 418.

“The 412 is the only toll road in the province that connects its community in the north to its community in the south,” said Lundquist, “Adding these tolls hurt families, and drivers have avoided using the 412. The result is more traffic on local and side streets – which means more accidents, interference with emergency vehicles, and more noise and air pollution.”

Lundquist, the NDP candidate for Whitby, is a founding member of the Free the 412 group.

“As we eliminate tolls on the 412, the NDP will continue building GO Regional Express Rail, so people commuting between Durham and downtown Toronto have frequent, reliable, affordable commuting options,” said Lundquist.

Eliminating tolls will move drivers onto Highway 412, and get them off regional, arterial and residential roads. This announcement follows a resolution passed by the Town of Whitby in 2016 calling for a removal of the tolls, which was also endorsed by the City of Oshawa and regional councillors.

“The Liberals worked with private companies to establish these tolls, and the Conservatives would be even worse – advocating for user fees and privatization every chance they get,” said Lundquist. “Let’s not go from bad to worse. Instead, we can have a premier that is fully committed to removing the unfair tolls on Highway 412 and stopping the planned tolls for highway 418. That’s one of the changes for the better this region needs.”