Trafi c cong 'Mer in Mîssissauga, also spends a lot of trne in ber vehicle. Sa, toc, do the couples two Ssoins, Joshua and Cole, tuba attend the Peel Reglion school. c Traffic congestion on hîghways, bas forced SHamilton and Halton familles wo mtce unbc- - levahie sacrifices. Thec plienomenon is far ffrm unknown for those tuba lîve oy work in Oakvî lie ILynne Cocklin, a Burlingron resâdient, accepu- c> d a position in noriki Oakvillc that rcquircd h ler ta drive a very congested stretch of the highway on an aimast daily basis. « It was like bcuflg a NASCAR driver because drivers ctianged lanes wîthoul signalîng anmd no rnauer how rnuch spoce you lefi bW tween you and the ricfl car, sorneone always M squeezed betweer0* skie said. -lIn addition ta sharing ber otun experiences, ci Cocklin said friends tuba lived in Stoney Creck ci and workcd a: the Ford plant in Oakvîlle tucre o e~ forced to move tait because they spcnt the Ci bulk off dhir frec Urne commuting. They werc on the rad ait 4 arn., carnîng home ail p.m. 'The hdno Iîfe'skie &Md. Th disthanceo bctwccn Dicksan Toolcys Wa- terdotun home and office, located off H-wy. 401 a: Leslie Road ricar Hwy. 404. is approxi- maîely 80 km. Mer mornînq trek takes a mini- mum off 55 minutes. »Comîng home, if l'm ne: on the 401 by 3:15 p.m. Id better be prepared te spend $25 for the 407 te gel home in under 90 minutes or sut in traffic for two plus hours, she sa'd. The heurs the local mom spends travelling i5 preciaus 1Ime away frem hier chîldren. She doesn't gel to eat breakfast wîlb îhemn on workdays, nor de she walk them ta schoel Seldom can she attend or participat in alter- schoal activîties wîthout îakîng a vacation day from work Wbcn she dots, ir talces away from the tamély's lime off zoqether »I am exhausted by the Urne we finish dinner mnaking evening activittes and family board games problematîc, she said. The Petzncks. loc, have limîîted lime for frîend%, famîty and activîlies on weekdays. MoIly and the boys arrive home between 6 and 7 p.m wîth Coty reîurnîngq at about 8 p.m 1 hese mnake for long, busy weekdays. 'ils hard ta gel anylhing done around the house7 saîd Petnnîç k. »W" air, really lîmited ta weekends in îerms ef having a lîfe outsîde of work, school and the kîds sports.' Motorîsts travelling alonq irea highways in cluidînq the Queeo Elizabeth Way îQ[W) and hîqhways 403 and 401, move at a soail s paceý Uuring rush hour, there are an esîîmaîed 250.000 vehîcles îdlîng on the' QFW îhrough Burlînglon atone Traffic is burrer lu bumper wîlh a numbeî o! vehîc les oplînq ta navigate the municipal street nelwork ta get ta their destination The spill-over traffic wreaks havoc on local roads. The corridors that run parallel 10 the e n fore familes to maksadie iane rerznict TaMfly tflcIUdîng parents Lory andi MoIIy anci sons Joshua andi Cole, commute ta tuork andi school every day They <e up aI the crack of devn andi out of the bouse by 6:30 am. in an attenspi ta beat trafic. Enc RiufIAtm&iarnf Wmest oGreopiFoe IB VÀO#Ou QEW in Burlingron, includinq H,îrvestcr Roati 10 the sauth and the North Service Road te the' north. are jammied durinq peark heurs. Wlieîî lîere\ a c rash ur incident on the pro- vincial :horouqhfare, :raff6c congestion on Burlinqtan streets WOrSCns "Burlîngten bears the brunt uW thib provincial traffic loekîng for an oj:liei ssaio Buce Zvani (ga, tlte Cily% s de l ilsror îlion, the sarne yoes, for Waed.owhere a col> lision or) Hwy 6 (.ai) sr iI 'ratf_ hrough the hearî of lthe Vic torndu v 1Lia'y andi n Flambor ougVs, settlemen1 amasa 'or hourý Municipal read nelworks sîmp1y weren t des.qocti : aK- commodate the volume drivers riot expert- ente T bey weren I buîlt lu do thal '1 J Zvanîga. Lobs of piesute on Milto r"md Milton reads experience sîimilar pressures. According lu Paul (ripps_ MIlrons dîrecler o! engineering serviu's, tb<' bîgqest traffic issues on the towns 'ocis sle-rn tram block ages on Hwy, 401 -When) thal bapperîs, a;f the other reatis, the Derrys and the Brîtanî'ca<t,.on overloadeti because people are s141! îrying t qet over in that diret ion dand the cipaotîl jus! îsn't there for lieTh~saîtd An increase in di, iHi e ,-) vehîcles per household if. partly to blann' for rraffic con gestion as are Toron-1', housng prices, sain Darren Scott, a prokessor ai Mc Master Uni versîty and associale ditrector o! the school of geeqraphy andi earth sciences. As yeung professionals are lookmqi ta settle clown and purchase homes lhev looîsinq wesî cf the ci wy wl'ere homes are more afforciuble- There- s a lot of people tuba are movîng tram Torcnîtn te Hamîlton, to Flamboirougl, to the outIyi.n rftgions. "oking for chtapèr housef' saîi the McMaster researcbec. those tuork fa- cuses uni travel behavîour andi transportartion . r rsutts i0 a hîgher number ci zuîricuu' hta mis! travel into the 'Bsg 'm~andi otter communities wrthin the '.i@te rcnr-to Area "N'eu sec tha: these znrmuting l'nks, îhey are increasînq over Inme 'a Scotx urutresîdent Len Coliîns, "cih avoitis ydV 0- tho le QEW ai ail cests. believes, thalt rscaniy peuple vieulti prefer te lave tubere b-,v w"rk but the houstng market makestNis dîffi' t As they satie int communîties like Mîlînn and. riborouqh, they're kift facing a dw'l 'mut rit v aren î willinq <ta commute). they are tffr. o, ' he saîd. 'l thînk they tuant te tac cluser tu work but econornîcs dictate that ' Haiîzjîî Regional Chair Gary Car chaiketi up so r it the issues affecting Hiton te a pas: phîlc'seophy tht saw develepmenî as a fins: pronrt andi road nezworks as a second- -ir ite 2006, tuhat was happening tuas, vved Nid a tremendous amount off growUi, but tue really weren t putting the rads tn place se tue are playîng catch up netu for ail those yeur<, he said- 'We changeti that pbiloophy.. Be- fore they gel any approval te builti any ncw developenr tue rnake sure the rads are put ti' Waterdown is still playing catch up. ln J.ne 21002, the Province appreved an offi- cual plan amcendment wtich gave developas the go-abead ta, buîld out their projects - 6,500 new, hou sing units, honte To mnove tin 15,000 ncw residents. Infrastructure ta acconmmodae the fuiture grot of the carnmunity and influx of ve- bidles on local roadi wasn't en place at the lime. Developmcnt off nonth/south andi casU tuest transportation corridors isn't expecxud for yeais. What the City hati wanted tuas for the tinS- opmnent toi be phsed to, tic in with the buid- ffg of the netu easî/t-%f anti nrtlvsouth covridort suid Flamborougb Couricillor M" Pritige. "The OMS (Ontaro Municipal Soud ndted agasst the City anti approve t ht deteilop- ers To, JUST do full build out' Thse curren: traffic conditions through Wttr- domu can besi tac dtscnbcd as 1îýorrendoe<K sid the palmtcian. il caîfl think Wf a b«t«e word To describe it' ln Hakton the value off building appuopniate rad nevworks has bnen reulizeti. Caff sud Regmia spentiing increased from $50 mil lion ln 2006 te $289 million in 2013. Tht Rie- gioVs învesTnrients fat excod Toronto% oati budget, whuch is $1 00 million Thés yerf. 'In the pas:, this neyier happened.Thcy wotàd put thetreskdena ln aid Thone yeurslatr they woutd iîoean the cap» adtsud Carit As; neigiîowing munlipelibae grappis wit trdhfc mangent issues, Dan Cot. OakviIlef dictor of engineering " con- structiofi sid the touns meat systMn k op- euhsg quite tutU. wth no oxwngclw on H. a nlmotSdge ci there are sarne chullunesi an somefdwi urterii 'cadi, but nowdoy ont ilnternation. locateti M Speers Raid and Cross Avenue, tas ddlay lcngtf comidsed by the Towun te be intoierable, The Town. ht sad. is warking ta tint wîth titis prObern Wttfful -- -M The probtem off traffic congestion bais muny dimensions, accordting ta, Oakville Chantaur off Commerce presidient John Sawyer. ùwvn long distances away front the workplace il ont such aspect. With the tigit cost of housing in Oakvlle, pco- pie w«th lobs in the totun have ta commute ini fromt places laike Namà1kon wbcrc moire ae fordiatle bous ;ng us avaîlable, tic noteti. tiust like 60 per cent Wf the people tub tuork in OakviIle corne trom outidte OakvhNe think around 62 per cent off the loc-al populaé- lion leuves Oakville evcryday to go to work in another corrmunity7« suid Sawyer. 'What tue have long champ.ened is buîngîng the jobs toi Oakille. Once tue bave hîgher density ant more jobs l'are tue can get mnore people off tht rad and public transit begins te malte more sens&»