Thank you to the member from Brampton North for the question.

Highway gridlock is a problem that continues to plague communities across Ontario. Why is that? It’s because successive Liberal governments simply chose not to invest and chose not to build, despite knowing the growth that was coming to this province.

Speaker, we know that the opposition is driven by an ideological opposition to new highways, and that is simply offside with where Ontarians are. People rely on cars to get to work, home and more, and if we don’t start building now, already-intense gridlock will only get worse for Ontario drivers.

The 401 is already the most congested highway in North America.

Within the next decade alone, all major highways in the region, including Highway 407, are expected to be at or to exceed capacity during rush hour.

Under the leadership of this Premier, our PC government is doing what the Liberals refused to get done years ago, and that’s build Highway 413.

Gridlock is not just going to disappear, and neither is commercial traffic.

Building Highway 413 is just the kind of bold action we need to avoid the next generation of drivers being stuck in traffic. It’s a key piece of our government’s transportation plan that will make the difference between calling home to say that you’re stuck in traffic or tucking your kids into bed at night.

I am pleased with the support that we’ve received to date on this project, including from LIUNA’s international vice-president, Joseph Mancinelli, who said that our government “continues to demonstrate progressive leadership in investing in critical infrastructure, like Highway 413, that will aim to address future growth and demands of our municipalities,” and Todd Letts, CEO of Brampton’s board of trade, who commended our government for prioritizing projects like Highway 413.

Speaker, as we saw in this past election, support for Highway 413 is strong. Our government will get it done.

I thank the member opposite for the question. I want to assure her that completing the replacement of the Argyle Street Bridge is a priority for our government. As she correctly pointed out, this is a century-old bridge and its restoration is long overdue. Unfortunately, the Liberals had over a decade to take action and address this issue, but instead, they did nothing.

Mr. Speaker, as I’m sure the member opposite can appreciate, our government is doing its due diligence to ensure that we get this right before putting shovels in the ground. This includes consulting with First Nations communities that are potentially impacted by this project and conducting early work projects to conserve the Toll House and potential archaeological resources before the bridge replacement begins. This early work is slated to begin this fall.

Our government is making great progress to get shovels in the ground for this project. It is a priority for our government, and we will get it done.

As the work on this project continues, we have taken interim measures to protect the safety of the travelling public who use the bridge. This includes implementing, as the member pointed out, further load restrictions for vehicles and completing temporary repair work that is necessary to maintain the serviceability of the bridge.

Mr. Speaker, we have been making great progress. The detailed design of the Argyle Street replacement is already complete, and now we’re in the process of obtaining the final approvals to proceed to construction.

We will not take any shortcuts when it comes to getting critical infrastructure built.