All residents near 16th Avenue need to understand that York Region is moving towards a final decision to expand 16th Avenue to 6-7 lanes in the Towns of Markham and Richmond Hill.

Creating a 6-7 lane regional highway through established residential communities is almost unprecedented. It will have major impacts on quiet enjoyment of homes and community, on some property values, on the environment, and on public health and safety.

We are a group of concerned residents that has joined together to stop this proposal.

Status as of Fall, 2007:

York Region has engaged an engineering consultant to recommend a future transportation approach in the 16th Avenue corridor. This work is largely completed and the clear recommendation is that 16th Avenue be widened to 6-7 lanes from Yonge Street to Markham Road. The extra lanes are to be designated for High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) and Public Transit during peak hours and regular vehicular traffic the rest of the time.

The Region is working towards completion of a Class Environmental Assessment (EA) which will fulfill the regulatory requirements for the project.

Detailed information on this project can be found on the York Region website at www.york.ca under News and Information Heading, click on the 16th Avenue Roads EA link.

We have released various public letters on this project. These are found in the Public Letters section.

Other major regional roads in York Region, including Bayview Avenue, Leslie Avenue, Kennedy Road, and McCowan Road, are also slated for expansion to 6-7 lanes.

Further updates can be found in the News section.