The new Highway 7 once again promised in 2023 provincial budget

The building of a new four-lane Highway 7 is still on the agenda, according to the recently released 2023 provincial budget.

“The next phase of construction for the new Highway 7 between Kitchener and Guelph will provide relief to the gridlocked Highway 401 and connect the fast‐growing urban centres of Kitchener,

Waterloo and Guelph,” it reads.

In a statement sent to CTV Kitchener on Monday evening, the Ministry of Transportation said they are currently advancing the preliminary design and obtaining the required approvals for Phases 2 and 3.

“The Frederick Street underpass, which is an advance project for Phase 3 will be tendered this year and construction is planned to begin in 2024,” the statement said.

The Greater Kitchener Waterloo Chamber of Commerce said while a firm timeline has been up in the air for years, they’re still optimistic.

“The province has always been quite hesitant. They have been quite, I guess, guarded, in providing timelines on this particular project - I guess probably because the delays in the past,” said Art Sinclair the chamber’s vice-president. “So there haven’t been any firm commitments but that key commitment is there that this is a priority project and we expect the province to follow through on their commitment.”

The chamber said the project is needed as the region continues to grow.

“The Region of Waterloo, the growth projections, both in terms of population and economic growth, for the next 30 years are significant, so we need this infrastructure to support this growth and Highway 7 I think is a good component of that infrastructure plan,” said Sinclair.

HISTORY OF THE PROJECT

The proposed plan for Highway 7 has been around for at least three decades and gathered momentum again in 2007.

“Times have changed, now it’s time to change Highway 7,” Donna Cansfield, the former Liberal Minister of Transportation, said in 2007.

Since then there has been incremental progress, most notably the completion of the new Victoria Street Bridge in 2018.

In 2020, the Progressive Conservatives officially committed funding, but no specifics as to timeline were given.

“Our government is moving ahead with a clear commitment of a new Highway 7 between Kitchener and Guelph,” Mike Harris Jr., the former MPP for Kitchener-Conestoga, said at the time.

At a campaign stop in Kitchener in 2022, Doug Ford promised the expansion would finally happen.

“Yes to a four-lane highway between Kitchener and Guelph,” Ford said at the time. “Yes to a new bridge over the Grand River, we’re saying yes to building Highway 7 and connecting Highway 7 to Conestoga Parkway. Because local families and workers have heard ‘no’ for far too long.”

Earlier this month, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Transportation said the new Highway 8 project is moving forward but no timeline was given.

The ministry suggested those looking for more information should visit the overall projects’ website.