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Over 100 protest Bradford Bypass outside transportation minister's office

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BARRIE, ONT. -

More than 100 protesters turned out today outside the office of the Minister of Transportation, one of many demonstrations across the GTA protesting new proposed highways.

The demonstration outside York-Simcoe MPP Caroline Mulroney's constituency office in Holland Landing called for the cancellation of the Bradford Bypass. The thoroughfare will connect Highway 400 and 404, a project that has concerned many environmentalists.

"Anytime you pave something over, there's less filtering of the water to go into Lake Simcoe," says Barrie resident Dorothy McKeown. "We need oxygen, and oxygen is only produced by trees; it is not produced by highways."

The protesters are concerned over the project's impacts on the local environment, saying it will devastate wetlands by affecting wildlife.

"From the MTO's own studies, there would be contamination of groundwater," says Margaret Prophet, the executive director of the Simcoe County Greenbelt Coalition. "The Holland marsh, which is the greenbelt's most important wetland, will be completely bisected."

According to the government, the bypass will help reduce congestion by up to 30 minutes. However, the project has not been priced, nor has any timeline of its construction been provided.

The province says it will release its environmental studies by the end of 2021. Protesters are hoping more people take a stand.

"A full federal impact assessment would be able to look at other alternatives that would address today's issues and using today's solutions."

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