Highway 413 Stage 2 Environmental Assessment: Permission To Enter (PTE)
Permission To Enter (PTE)
Field investigations are being conducted to inventory existing environmental and engineering conditions within the Highway 413 Project study area. Permission to Enter (PTE) grants the Project Team temporary access to private property at the consent of the property owner(s) in order to conduct these investigations. This important step in the Environmental Assessment (EA) process allows the Project Team to confirm existing conditions, determine anticipated impacts and develop appropriate mitigation measures along the Highway 413 Preferred Route.
Property owners within the Preferred Route were sent a PTE notification package, including a PTE letter, agreement, questionnaire, and fact sheet. Property owners in receipt of a PTE notification package are encouraged to follow the instructions below.
Step 1: Receiving your PTE Form
Property owners will be notified by letter and/or email and will receive a PTE form.
Step 2: Review and Sign your PTE Form
Property owners are requested to review and sign the PTE form. Please complete the Owner(s) name, mailing address, and the required email and phone number sections.
Where applicable, complete the associated questionnaire that is included in the PTE notification package.
If you would like to receive an electronic copy of the PTE form and questionnaire for e-signature, please email PTE@highway413.ca, with your first and last name, property address, PIN number and Key ID number (all found on the PTE form).
Step 3: Submit your PTE form and questionnaire to the Project Team
Return a signed copy to the Project Team by mail to:
ATTN: Nadia Dabagh
25 York Street, Suite 700
Toronto, Ontario M5J 2V5
Alternatively, you can email a signed copy to PTE@highway413.ca by February 13, 2023.
Step 4: Property Access
Property owners will be notified by a member of the Project Team three to five business days prior to field staff entering your property.
Property owner cooperation through the signing and returning of the PTE form is greatly appreciated.
Background, Progress to Date & Timelines
The Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO) is currently undertaking Stage 2 of the Highway 413 Transportation Corridor Route Planning, Preliminary Design and Environmental Assessment (EA) Project. Building on the recommendations from Stage 1, the Project will identify the route, determine interchange locations and complete the preliminary design for a new transportation corridor. The corridor will include: a 400-series highway, transitway and potential goods movement priority features.
The Phase 1 field investigation program was completed in December 2020. The Phase 2 field investigation program began in September 2021 and was completed in December 2022.
Phase 3 field investigations began in December 2022 and may continue until December 2024. Fieldwork is a vital aspect in Preliminary Design. It is a data collecting exercise that informs decisions on aspects like bridge designs, pavement types, interchange locations and configurations, etc. This data also allows us to identify existing environmental conditions and determine potential negative and positive impacts so that the negative impacts can be mitigated or avoided altogether.
Phase 1 PTE field investigations consisted of field staff documenting observations, taking photos and mapping existing conditions.
The Phase 1 field investigations began on March 9, 2020 and continued intermittently until December 31, 2020. The Phase 1 fieldwork program included a combination of the following investigations undertaken by the Project Team field staff:
- Natural Environment Investigations – natural resource observations, including fisheries, wildlife, wetlands, and vegetation inventories; groundwater and drainage conditions (including water well surveys).
- Socio-Economic Environment Investigations – land use and agricultural review; contaminant and waste management observations.
- Cultural Environment Investigations – cultural heritage landscapes and built heritage resource assessments.
- Engineering Investigations – engineering surveys to understand existing conditions that may influence design.
The Phase 2 fieldwork program included a combination of the following investigations undertaken by the Project Team field staff:
- Natural Environment Investigations – natural resource observations, including fisheries, wildlife, wetlands, and vegetation inventories; groundwater and drainage conditions (including water well surveys).
- Socio-Economic Environment Investigations – land use and agricultural review; contaminant and waste management observations.
- Cultural Environment Investigations – Stage 2 Archaeological Assessments.
- Engineering Investigations – geotechnical and borehole investigations; utility locate surveys; topographic surveys.
Phase 2 fieldwork began in September 2021 and was completed in December 2022.
The Phase 3 PTE program is a continuation of the work undertaken in 2021 and 2022 under the Phase 2 PTE program. This fieldwork will focus on properties we were unable to previously investigate and properties where further investigations are required.
Phase 3 field investigations will include fieldwork which may require some temporary alteration to properties. Temporary alteration to a property may refer to open-test pitting, installation of monitoring well(s), drilling of boreholes, and/or limited interference with use of a portion of a property. Temporary changes to a property will be returned to the property's original condition at no cost to the property owner, once the investigation is complete.
The Phase 3 fieldwork program will include any combination of the following investigations being undertaken on your property by the Project Team field staff:
- Natural Environment Investigations - natural resource observations, which may include fish community and fish habitat surveys, vegetation classification and delineation, plant species inventories, Significant Wildlife Habitat surveys, amphibian call surveys, breeding bird surveys, and certain species-specific surveys for threatened or endangered species. All of these surveys are non-intrusive and will involve trained ecologists walking the subject property recording ecological data, mapping features and taking photographs of natural features.
- Socio-Economic Environment Investigations - land use and agricultural review, contaminant and waste management observations.
- Cultural Environment Investigations - archaeological assessments and photographic documentation of the property including photos of the exterior of buildings on the property and other landscape features.
- Engineering Investigations - geotechnical and borehole investigations; utility locate surveys; topographic surveys.
Phase 3 fieldwork began in December 2022 and is anticipated to be completed by December 31, 2024.
Property Acquisition
If you receive a PTE form and are subject to a PTE requirement, this does not mean we will need to acquire your property. PTE will be used only to establish environmental conditions and assess the engineering feasibility of the new transportation corridor. Property acquisition requirements will be confirmed at the conclusion of the Preliminary Design.
Special Considerations
Please advise us if there are any special requirements or precautionary measures that staff should take while visiting your property. For example, if we need to accommodate sensitive farm operations, harvesting or seasonal breeding.
PTE Contact Information
If you would like to speak with someone directly regarding a specific question, concern or clarification related to the PTE process or form, please contact:
Nadia Dabagh, PTE Coordinator
Phone: 289-835-2519
E-mail: PTE@Highway413.ca
Nadia will provide you with a response within 3-5 business days.
Frequently Asked Questions
Field investigations allow researchers to assess the natural, socio-economic and cultural environments and conduct investigations to determine the most responsible way to move forward, while avoiding or minimizing negative effects. There are a wide variety of field investigations that can occur in support of this project (as outlined in the above Fieldwork Phase descriptions).
It is important to obtain information from field investigations to document existing conditions and avoid or minimize negative effects and develop appropriate mitigation measures for any areas containing significant/sensitive features.
All staff conducting field investigations will be following COVID-19 precautionary measures, including but not limited to physical distancing and using appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). If you have any questions regarding our fieldwork protocol and COVID-19 precautionary measures, please do not hesitate to contact Nadia Dabagh, PTE Coordinator, directly at 289-835-2519 or by email at PTE@Highway413.ca. Nadia will provide you with a response within 3 – 5 business days.
Stage 2 of the Highway 413 EA Project has focused on developing and evaluating a short list of route alternatives to select a Preferred Route. The project is currently in the Preliminary Design Phase, which focuses on further refining the design of the Highway 413 Preferred Route.
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