TORONTO, Ont. – Ontario’s PC Party has unveiled its plans for the future of the province’s roads, in a platform entitled “The Road Ahead.”

The platform basically promises the Tories, if re-elected, will build new roads with a minimum of tolling.

Included in the party’s plans for Southern and Central Ontario are: extending Highway 404 past Lake Simcoe and building the Bradford Bypass; completing Highway 407 through Durham; widening Highway 401 and making safety improvements across Ontario; building a mid-peninsula corridor linking the GTA and Niagara’s border crossings through Halton, Hamilton and the Niagara Peninsula; extending Highway 427 past Barrie; and extending Highway 410 to at least Highway 89.

For Northern Ontario, the PC party plans to complete the four-laning of key highways, including Highway 11 from North Bay to Huntsville; Highway 400/69 to Parry Sound; and Highway 69 from Parry Sound to Sudbury. The party also proposes widening key highways and bypasses, such as Highway 11/17 between Thunder Bay and Nipigon; Highway 17 between Kenora and the Manitoba border; and the Sudbury southeast and southwest bypasses. Projects for Northern Ontario include upgrading the Thunder Bay Expressway and building a new Shabaqua Highway.

According to the platform, the Tories have promised, “no tolls will be forced on Ontario motorists.” Tolls will only be applied to new roads and only where there is a non-toll alternative, says the platform.

The Tories have also promised to sped up the environmental assessment process by holding the federal and Ontario assessments at the same time whenever possible.

The PC party also unveiled a new approach to regulation-making: “Ten principles of Regulatory Excellence” which should be of interest to industry and carriers alike, in that it lists how government can increase efficiency and consensus building in the regulation-making process.

To read the entire Tory platform, visit www.ontariopc.com