Councillors take issue with interchange report

By Jay Gutteridge Bradford Topic Jan 06, 2011
Some Bradford West Gwillimbury council members expressed concern over a proposed interchange at Hwy. 400 and 5th Line at a meeting Jan. 4.
Council met to hear a presentation on the class environmental assessment study completed to determine the best options for constructing the interchange.
McCormick Rankin Corporation, who completed the study, looked at the impacts of the proposed project on the environment, properties and traffic in the area and determined a preferred option for construction.
Michael Chiu and Heather Templeton of McCormick Rankin presented the study’s findings to council.
The town is the proponent that initiated the environmental assessment, but the project’s costs would be shared between the town, Simcoe County and the province.
Some members of council raised several concerns with the study.
The preferred option for the project was first presented to council and the public for comment in June.
“I don’t think my concerns have been heard or dealt with,” said Ward 5 Councillor Ron Simpson, noting the preferred option didn’t reflect the issues he raised about it in June.
The study calls for an interchange with on and off ramps for traffic coming from any direction.
The project would involve realignments of 5th Sideroad on the west of Hwy. 400 and Coffey Road on the east so they don’t interfere with the on and off ramps.
It would also involve an extensive reconstruction of the portion of Fraser Creek located northwest of the intersection.
The creek realignment would return the waterway to a more natural state, preventing cattle from using the creek area for pasture, as they currently do.
The project would necessitate the purchase of private land, including the removal of one residence southwest of the intersection.
Mr. Simpson raised several concerns about the project, including that it would affect environmentally sensitive land, cut a farm property in half and result in the destruction of the aforementioned residence.
The study’s authors considered several other options and presented some of them to council at public meetings. The authors determined the option put forward is the one that would have the least negative impacts overall, taking into account the natural and built environments.The authors estimated the cost of the project at $49.1 million, accounting for inflation until 2012, when construction is expected to begin. The estimate does not include the cost of purchasing land.
Negotiations are currently underway to determine how the costs will be shared between the town, county and province if the project proceeds.
The study’s authors note there is an agreement in principle with the Ministry of Transportation that would see each party pay roughly a third of the costs, although the final details have not been worked out.
If the costs are divided three ways and the estimates are correct, the town’s portion would be about $16 million.
Mr. Simpson said he thought the cost estimates were low and Tami Kitay, senior planner for the town, said costs generally do rise from initial estimates.
Whether costs rise or not, 90 per cent of the town’s portion will be covered by development charges, Ms Kitay said.
Development charges are paid by developers whose projects are what make the new infrastructure necessary.
Deputy Mayor Rob Keffer took issue with the numbers in the traffic section of the report, which were taken from previous studies.
“I question whether these numbers are accurate enough to spend $49 million at this time,” he said.
Ward 3 Councillor Gary Lamb also raised concerns about the traffic numbers, saying the amount of traffic approaching Hwy. 400 from the west needs to be better accounted for since there are many manufacturing facilities in the Tottenham area whose employees would use the interchange.
The completed report from McCormick Rankin was submitted to the town in November and distributed to all interested parties.
Those parties have until Jan. 10 to raise concerns about the project and if those concerns can’t be addressed through negotiation, the parties can request a Part II Order under the Ontario Environmental Assessment Act.
A Part II Order would require an individual environmental assessment for the project. In that case, an environmental assessment document would have to be presented to the minister of the environment for review and approval.
The minister of the environment would review any request for a Part II Order. He would decide whether to deny the request, refer the matter to mediation or issue a Part II Order.
To view the Hwy. 400 and 5th Line class environmental assessment report, visit townofbwg.com and click on Town Services, then Engineering Services, then Environmental Assessments, then Hwy. 400 & 5th Line Final Class EA Study.