New Highway 7 between Kitchener and Guelph seemingly snubbed again by province

It's been the topic of talks for decades and it seems it may stay that way for decades longer.

The province is out with a new 30-year transportation plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe which, despite looking out over the next three decades, does not include any kind of timeline or completion goal for the planned new stretch of Highway 7 linking Kitchener and Guelph.

In fact, the plan looking out to 2051 only references this stretch of Highway 7 twice, once to confirm the project exists and the second to say engineering and environmental planning continues.

As for actual work to be completed, the province's plan only says it expects to begin construction procurement for the Frederick Street Bridge replacement, though there is once again no timeline as to when that could happen or when someone might pick up a shovel.

“It perplexes me in some ways to say we've been hammering on Highway 7 for long before I got involved — and that's a long, long time — and we're still seeing there's this reluctance to move forward with the actual construction of it,” said Greg Durocher, President and CEO of the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce.

“We've got all the properties in place, all it takes now is some bulldozers and some people,” Durocher added.

The new 30-year transportation plan also marks the second time in as many months the Highway 7 project has been snubbed by the province after the Minister of Transportation in February could only promise incremental advancement.

“It seems governments like to kick the football as many yards as they possibly can and all it is is frustrating for absolutely everyone,” said Durocher.

Waterloo Region, meantime, is also part of what Durocher calls 'the hot zone' which he says should make it more prominent on a list of provincial priorities.

“We're at the western end of the Innovation Corridor which is probably Canada's most important area going forward,” he said “That's where a lot of the economic activity is going to go forward in the next 30-50 years for sure.”

“The government needs to pay attention to that and needs to make sure that people and goods can get moved across that corridor effectively and efficiently.”

Durocher does admit it is important for provincial governments to plan 20-30 years down the road but when it comes to getting things done he says they also need to say what they're committing to in the next three or four — especially in the run-up to the next provincial election in June.

“And that's specifically what I will be asking the government,” he said “Fine, I like this plan looking forward, but I want to know what you're committing to in the next four years.”