Alto Protest Update: Detailed Citiozen Proposal for Route with Belleville, Brockville, Kingston Stops

The Alto consultation period ended over a month ago.

But that has not meant an end to the debate about the route that will eventually be chosen for the proposed high speed rail line through Eastern Ontario. 

There have been citizen protests organised at major Hwy 7 intersections, and one is planned for Parliament Hill as well.

The matter has surfaced at local council tables as well. At a meeting of North Frontenac Council, Mayor Lichty asked Staff to prepare a report outlining what actions the township can take in the coming months to make it clear that North Frontenac is no more supportive of the train coming through its communities than anyone else is.

In Addington Highlands, Council was happy to support a proposal to route the train to the 401 corridor, but balked at a request for funding support, as they are not sure if  they are legally allowed to spend taxpayer dollars on this kind of political advocacy.

And in South Frontenac, the township has published a breakdown of activities taken in recent months, to oppose the project coming through their territory.

The context for this, in the case of South Frontenac, is a series of social media posts questioning the current council’s commitment to representing resident concerns on the matter.

“If anyone thinks we have done nothing about this, they can see that we have done a lot, as much as a municipality can do,” said Mayor Vandewal, expressing his frustration over how the matter has been politicised locally, in an election year.

And into this mix, a new, detailed proposal sponsored by the Kingston Accommodation Partners, was based on an idea proposed by Todd Colbourne, an architect and South Frontenac resident, working with a citizen led group.

The report, entitled “Conceptual Design & Business Case High-Speed Rail: Eastern Ontario Route along Highway 401 and Stations”, makes the case that a “401 Corridor route would better serve both the goals of high-speed rail and the communities affected by it. Rather than cutting through sensitive Canadian Shield landscapes, rural communities, wetlands, forests, lakes, farms and recreational corridors, the proposed alternative, for much of its length, would follow a more practical transportation corridor while adding major regional stops in Belleville, Kingston, and Brockville.

The report says that route would follow the north side of the 401, from Belleville to Gananoque (thus bypassing South Frontenac) and although it would be longer than a more northern route, “it could cost less to build and offer faster trip times than routes across the Canadian shield or through central sections of the Frontenac Arch.”

It also says that by adding Belleville, Kingston and Brockville stops, it will increase ridership by 3 million passengers per year. By serving the Montreal to Toronto traffic with a spur to Ottawa, the crucial Montreal to Toronto trip would be “following a much shorter and faster route with trip times of only 2 hours 40 minutes.”  The Alto plan is for a 3-hour trip between the two major cities. 

Michelle Foxton, the Liberal candidate in the Lanark-Frontenac-Kingston riding in the last two elections, has been active on this issue, and she is supporting this proposal. She said that the report reflects the kind of constructive citizen engagement needed when major infrastructure projects affect rural communities.

“It’s easy to say no when a project threatens the places we love, live and where families have spent generations,” said Foxton. “What is harder, but more useful, is to do the work of connecting with people and finding a better solution. This report shows that many in Eastern Ontario are not simply saying no. They are saying: build high-speed rail in a way that protects sensitive landscapes, respects rural communities in the south and in the north, tackles Climate Change, and delivers real transportation benefits to residents across the region – not just to those in the big cities.”

She posted about her support for the proposal this week and has put up an online petition in support of it. The petition can be accessed through her Facebook page.

Although there has been a lot of local activity in recent weeks, there has as of yet, been no movement on the part of the federal government to alter their commitment to the existing Alto mandate, which includes three Ontario stops (Ottawa, Peterborough and Toronto) and two possible Eastern Ontario routes, both of which go through Frontenac County.