[The Narwhal] Life Along the Proposed Highway 413 by Katherine Cheng

Cars drive along the ramp from ... Ministry from 2017. GTA Canada

Cars drive along the ramp from King Road onto Highway 400, one of the starting points of Highway 413. About 122,500 vehicles drive along the highway daily, according to data by the Ontario Transportation Ministry from 2017. GTA Canada

For some people living alongside the farmland and forests outside of Toronto that the Ontario government wants to turn into a road, Highway 413 is a route to opportunity.

For others, the proposed project — and the damage it could cause to the environment — represents the opposite of the future they want. Whether it’s built or not, what happens with Highway 413 will shape the communities along its route for decades to come.

Highway 413, if it becomes a reality, would draw a 60-kilometre path connecting the Greater Toronto Area suburbs of Vaughan and Milton. It would also cut through Ontario’s Greenbelt, conservation land, at least 220 wetlands, dozens of waterways, 2,000 acres of farmland and the habitats of at least 11 species at risk.

The previous Liberal government shelved the idea over environmental concerns, and after an independent panel found it would save most drivers less than a minute. But Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives revived it in late 2018, arguing that it’s necessary to clear up the Greater Toronto Area’s relentless problem with traffic — and that it could actually save drivers half an hour.

“Congestion is a real problem, and members of the opposition just want to keep their heads in the sand and not recognize this reality that plagues people — drivers, commuters, families, workers, farmers,” Ontario Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney said last year.

[The Narwhal] Life Along the Proposed Highway 413

Although the 360-hectare Nashvi...: Katherine Cheng / The Narwhal

Although the 360-hectare Nashville Conservation reserve is a protected patch of nature in Vaughan, Ont. and critical habitat for monarchs, migratory birds, amphibians, coyotes and deer, the province's preferred route for Highway 413 cuts through its southern section. Photo: Katherine Cheng / The Narwhal

Ryan Norris Ecologist, Univers...terfly eggs on milkweed plants.

Ryan Norris
Ecologist, University of Guelph
Nashville Conservation Reserve, Vaughan

Ryan Norris bends down to look for monarch butterfly eggs on milkweed plants.

The McEwen bridge was designed ... cycling and equestrian trails.

The McEwen bridge was designed by Frank Barber, a notable Ontario engineer, and completed in 1923, meant to carry a single lane of vehicular traffic on Kirby Road over the Humber River. In the late 1970s, when a section of Kirby Road east of Huntington Road was abandoned due to erosion that had been deemed too costly to repair, the bridge was closed to vehicles. The bridge has remained open to pedestrians using the Humber Valley Heritage Trail: within the Nashville Conservation Reserve it forms a crucial link in its system of hiking, cycling and equestrian trails.

Monarch females lay an average ...rse of 10 to 14 days as larvae.

Monarch females lay an average of 700 pinhead-sized eggs in late summer, typically with only one egg per plant. After about four days, the monarch caterpillars hatch from their eggs and grow to 3,000 times their weight over the course of 10 to 14 days as larvae.

Ryan Norris, an ecologist and a... Conservation Reserve close-up.

Ryan Norris, an ecologist and associate professor at the University of Guelph, and Gideon Foreman, a climate change and transportation policy analyst at the David Suzuki Foundation walk through a path at Nashville Conservation Reserve. For the past year, they have held walks through the reserves with journalists to showcase the nature of the Nashville Conservation Reserve close-up.

According to Statista, there we...ed to employ over 1,000 people.

According to Statista, there were 324,200 truck drivers in Canada in 2021, an increase from 247,000 in 2000. Amazon opened its first Canadian fulfillment centre in Mississauga, Ont. in 2011. Ten years later, it opened a location in Brampton with a 350,000 square foot facility, estimated to employ over 1,000 people.

Sukhraj Sandhu drives through B...llion in investment. GTA Canada

Sukhraj Sandhu drives through Brampton, Ont., pointing out new commercial warehouses that have populated the area in recent years for companies, such as Amazon. According to Statistics Canada, Brampton placed 7th in the country for total construction value in 2016, generating $2 billion in investment. GTA Canada

Sukhraj Sandhu Truck driver an...jority of his time on the road.

Sukhraj Sandhu
Truck driver and vice president, AZ Canadian Truckers Association, Brampton

Sukhraj Sandhu has been a professional truck driver for more than two decades and spends the majority of his time on the road.

While driving, Sukraj Sukhraj p...in Canada and third in Ontario.

While driving, Sukraj Sukhraj passes by the Bhagwan 1008 Adinatha Swamy Jain Temple, the first Jain temple in Canada constructed using traditional Indian architecture. There are about 10,000 Jains in Canada, with two-thirds of the community living in the Greater Toronto Area. According to the 2016 census, the City of Brampton had the fourth largest visible minority population in Canada and third in Ontario.

Sandhu drives through a car was...art of his routine on the road.

Sandhu drives through a car wash every day as part of his routine on the road.

A rainbow is reflected in the w...fect on the rest of the system.

A rainbow is reflected in the windshield of Sukraj Sandhu’s car as it trails behind a truck without its trailer for cargo, known as “bobtail mode.” Bobtailing can pose increased risks of traffic accidents when driving due to the lack of cargo weight and its effect on the rest of the system.

Rav Sin

Rav Singh
Farmer, Shade of Miti
Caledon

Rav Singh prepares hay to lay over her fields over the winter, protecting them from the snow and cold. She has planted garlic under the soil, which is a winter hardy.

Singh specializes in growing So...fy the produce seen in Ontario.

Singh specializes in growing South Asian crops as a tribute to her ancestry and a way to diversify the produce seen in Ontario.

Rav Singh found the farm she cu... beehives on the same property.

Rav Singh found the farm she currently rents through a fellow seller at a farmer’s market, who harvests honey from beehives on the same property.

Ontario accounts for over one-q...a 4.5 per cent drop since 2011.

Ontario accounts for over one-quarter of all of Canada’s farms. The 2016 Census of Agriculture counted 49,600 census farms in Ontario, a 4.5 per cent drop since 2011.

Protesters walk along the road for the organized Harvest Walk.

Rahul Mehta Activist, Sustaina...t of an organized Harvest Walk.

Rahul Mehta
Activist, Sustainable Mississauga
Mississauga

Two protesters hold up a banner of the earth as they walk along the proposed route of Highway 413 as part of an organized Harvest Walk.

A woman holds up a sign as she ...ay as part of the Harvest Walk.

A woman holds up a sign as she walks along a bridge going over a highway as part of the Harvest Walk.

A sign saying "Save the Gr...t; can be found along the road.

A sign saying "Save the Greenbelt" can be found along the road.

A blue “Future Site of Highway ...sign on Highway 400. GTA Canada

A blue “Future Site of Highway 413” sign on Highway 400. GTA Canada

The 400-series designations in ...owed in the subsequent decades.

The 400-series designations in Ontario were introduced in 1952, although the province had been constructing highways with platforms dividing the middle for two decades prior. Initially, only Highways 400, 401 and 402 were numbered. Other designations followed in the subsequent decades.

To read the full story, please ...23 Photojournalism Fellowship .

To read the full story, please visit The Narwhal.

This project was created under The Narwhal and Room Up Front 2022-2023 Photojournalism Fellowship.

Katherine Cheng

Ryan Norris
Ecologist, University of Guelph
Nashville Conservation Reserve, Vaughan

Sukhraj Sandhu
Truck driver and vice president, AZ Canadian Truckers Association, Brampton

Rav Singh
Farmer, Shade of Miti
Caledon

Rahul Mehta
Activist, Sustainable Mississauga
Mississauga

Also by Katherine Cheng —

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[CBC] Parallel Lives

No War

[Globe and Mail] Dance of the Lion, Year of the Tiger

[2019-2021] Hong Kong Protests: Behind the Front Lines

[China Dialogue] Guardians of the Pearl River Delta

[International Environmental Photography Lab] Through the Five Senses

Katherine Cheng

Ryan NorrisEcologist, University of GuelphNashville Conservation Reserve, Vaughan

Sukhraj SandhuTruck driver and vice president, AZ Canadian Truckers Association, Brampton

Rav SinghFarmer, Shade of MitiCaledon

Rahul MehtaActivist, Sustainable MississaugaMississauga

Also by Katherine Cheng —

[The Narwhal] Experimental Lakes Area

[Global News] How electric vehicles are sparking a battery recycling revolution

Global News: Raging Asian Women

[CBC] Parallel Lives

No War

[Globe and Mail] Dance of the Lion, Year of the Tiger

[2019-2021] Hong Kong Protests: Behind the Front Lines

[China Dialogue] Guardians of the Pearl River Delta

[International Environmental Photography Lab] Through the Five Senses

Ryan Norris
Ecologist, University of Guelph
Nashville Conservation Reserve, Vaughan

Sukhraj Sandhu
Truck driver and vice president, AZ Canadian Truckers Association, Brampton

Rav Singh
Farmer, Shade of Miti
Caledon

Rahul Mehta
Activist, Sustainable Mississauga
Mississauga