HAMILTON, Ont — The Tories have proposed joining the Red Hill Creek Expressway to the coming Niagara super highway/international trade corridor, but local leaders may not be in favor of the link.

The move promises greatly increased traffic — particularly long-distance truck traffic — and the City of Hamilton isn’t sure it really wants that on the route.

“I’m very skeptical at this point. I have a lot of questions,” Ward 5 councillor Chad Collins tells local media. He says the extension might fundamentally change the nature of the road, long seen primarily as a local commuter route and a way to link the city’s industrial north end to the 403.

“This hasn’t been part of the project. It’s a new component that we really haven’t had any public consultation on. It’s new to everyone.”

The idea of extending the expressway south so that it links to the so-called Mid-Peninsula Corridor is in the needs assessment study that was announced earlier this week by the Ontario Transportation Ministry.

“It highlights how significant that road could be,” says Transportation Minister and Stoney Creek MPP Brad Clark.