Two years ago, on his first tour around the province as CEO of the Ontario Road Builders’ Association (ORBA), Walid Abou-Hamde made a point of driving the route to better understand what the concept of ‘highways’ means in a northern context.
This time around, it was an equally engaging experience as he made his way first to Thunder Bay, and then Ottawa and Sudbury, before continuing on to London and Toronto.
“It’s been a fantastic experience for me, absolutely,” Abou-Hamde said in an interview with Northern Ontario Business.
Held annually, the ORBA President’s Tour gets Abou-Hamde facetime with the organization’s more than 300 members — contractors, producers, suppliers, service providers, and government representatives — who all have a stake in the province’s transportation infrastructure.
During ORBA’s Sudbury session, held at Science North on Oct. 15, a priority message among members was the importance of the four-laning of Highways 11 and 17.
More than just an issue of convenience, lack of a four-lane highway impacts economic development, cross-border trade, and safety, Abou-Hamde said.
“Ontario is the only jurisdiction that does not have a four-lane highway which intersects the entire province, border to border, in Canada,” he said.
“We’re talking about breaking down trade barriers, we’re talking about promoting development and, most importantly, because our members are part and parcel of their communities, promoting safety for motorists on highways as well.”
Roadbuilding takes capital, of course, and Abou-Hamde said ORBA was pleased to see the Ford government set aside $30 billion over the next 10 years for road construction in the 2025 Budget.
But those commitments need to be followed up with movement.
“Now is the time to translate those commitments into tenders and shovels in the ground, and we're hopeful that we'll see some action on that soon,” he said.
On the topic of a 2+1 model highway, which has been offered up as a potential solution for the North, Abou-Hamde said ORBA is supportive of the proposed pilot project, which gained provincial support in 2021.
Popularized in Sweden, 2+1 highways consist of a three-lane road, with continuous, alternating passing lanes every two to five kilometres.
ORBA’s priority is still the four-laning of Highways 11 and 17, and it’s entered an advocacy coalition with municipal organizations in Northern Ontario to push that idea.
But Abou-Hamde said the 2+1 model could be another “tool in the toolbox” toward roadbuilding in the North, and he believes it might not be too long before an update on that project is released.
“What we've heard from our government partners is that the pilot is still very much in the project pipeline,” he said. “We're expecting that it'll move ahead in the coming months, maybe weeks even. So it is very much still a priority.”
He’s also optimistic about an update on the final stage of four-laning on Highway 69.
A stretch of just 68 kilometres remains of the multi-year, multi-million-dollar project that began in the late 1980s and has had a constantly shifting end date.
“I mean, when you're in Sudbury, you're bound to hear about Highway 69, of course; it is a project of regional significance,” Abou-Hamde said. “It is one that we're keeping a close eye on.”
During his election campaign and at other points during his premiership, Doug Ford has reiterated his commitment to funding the project, estimated to come at a cost of $500 million.
Abou-Hamde pointed to this, saying ORBA is “hoping to see that translate into action very soon.”
After the President’s Tour wraps up in Toronto on Oct. 23, ORBA will take feedback from its members and partners to help shape its advocacy priorities, Abou-Hamde said.
In the past, the organization has used member input to push for greater highway safety for construction and maintenance workers, which resulted in amendments to the Highway Traffic Act requiring drivers to slow down and move over for construction workers.
ORBA also lobbied for a framework to harmonize an array of technical standards and specifications across Ontario, and the province announced legislation last May to address those concerns.
“We want people and our partners as well to know that investing in transportation infrastructure really is more about building roads, bridges and mass transportation networks,” Abou-Hamde said.
“We're really investing in unleashing the economic potential of our province, of our country, of the regions, and it is of critical importance if we are to face the moment and the threats lurking around and with rhetoric coming from south the border.”