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economist sunsuntribune news saturday jan 8 2005 court oks 407 toll increase rural township j rejects dump plan bymikeadler staff writer the 407 etr responded to a court victory granting it the fight to raise tolls this week by announcing it will do just that peak rates for cars and other light vehicles will rise a penny a kilometre feb 7 to 1495 cents the highways owners said the increase will speed up trips for cus tomers by paying for road widening and other improvements the increase may not change habits of ordinary commuters 407 spokesper son dale albers acknowledged but the new heavytruck rate of 4485 cents a kilometre is so high he suggested trucking companies may avoid the road during peak hours reducing conges tion the consortium is hoping some of the heavier vehicle customers will choose offpeak hours where the heav iest will pay 4230 cents a kilometre mr albers said because they take several trips a day they will save a lot of money he explained while truckers are welcome on the road he said other commuters want to see fewer of them even truckers understand a trans port truck takes the space of five or six smaller vehicles and its sometimes hard to negotiate around them mr albers said since taking office the provincial lib erals have fought to control tolls on 407 and renegotiate the contract for the 99- year lease sold by the previous tory gov ernment this week a judge upheld an earlier ruling that the 407 owners can raise tolls without the provinces permis sion a setback for the province which pledges to keep fighting on what 407 etr counts as seven separate legal disputes were doing what has to be done danna obrien spokesperson for trans- staff photosteve somerville motorists exit hwy 407 at bayview avenue tolls for the route which stretches across the gta are on the rise portation minister harinder takhar said friday our first read of the judges rul ing indicates this is not a slam dunk for the 407 the highway suffers from conges tion particularly around its dufferin street interchange in thornhill and a stretch east of hwy 400 in woodbridge said mr albers who said 407 etr will decide how much of the woodbridge stretch to widen and start construction this year the province could end the expen sive battles by having some nice con versations with 407 etr to solve the disputes mr albers said were not politicians were businessmen tory mpp tim hudak agreed friday charging the liberals and premier dal- ton mcguinty promised to freeze tolls while knowing the consortiums con tract rights couldnt be challenged in court successfully its nothing but a cynical use of tax payers money to hide a promise he knew he couldnt keep he said the canadian automobile associa tion is disappointed to hear the province doesnt have more influence on the tolls which are becoming hard for consumers to take mark arsenault of caa ontario said theyre penny increases but in the end they all add up youve got to won der where the breaking point is the province meanwhile will keep fighting to improve this incredibly dis gusting contract promised liberal mpp mike colle who will hand the min ister his factfinding report soon on 407 customer service practices by roy green staff writer york region is still look ing for an alternative to shipping garbage to michi gan after politicians in a rural ontario township rejected a plan to establish a landfill site there southgate township mayor don lewis proposed the dump as an alternative to the michigan landfills where the region sends 200000 tonnes of waste annually but his council health concerns against even allowing pre liminary environmental surveys to proceed the mayor said it was no sur prise many local residents opposed the plans earlier this week york region chairperson bill fisch said a search among ontario municipalities to find a willing host for trash from the gta has been citing voted under way for two years even with the regions diversion plans which could see die annual ton nage reduced by 50 to 60 per cent there is still a substan tial need for a new landfill site he said early last year michigan politicians voted to severely limit the kind of material it accepts in its landfills and more than doubled the fines for noncompliance until late last fall the region and toronto faced the possibility michigan could be closed to its trash opponents of out-of- state garbage in michigan are still pushing for an expansion of state legislation covering landfilled waste and a tipping fee surcharge to help discourage imports at the same time legisla tion now being debated at the federal level would allow local united states jurisdic tions to ban trash imports uui mm mm mjmjmmjlmljtkjmaxlm pniily ony family day is looking for caregivers in the markham village area kateri tekakwithareesor park ps free training resources offered receive support from a licensed agency we handle all accounting marketing develop a child care business in your own home for information call now 4169223434 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