Why the fixation on a freeway interchange that empties on farmland

By Meade Helman AWARE News Network August 7 2013
5th Line Interchange. It looks like the 5th line interchange is back on the table (if it was ever off) According to comments from Jay Courrier, town manager, the town is going forward with engineering and expects to have a pre-development agreement with the developers by the end of August.

The last estimates we have are $54 Mil for the interchange (Province and Feds to pay about $30mil combined) And Bond Head and the employment lands, last estimate, $300 mil+ for infrastructure. The developers declined the last opportunity they had to pay for this. EDITORIAL COMMENT: The last time we saw this there wasn’t any money. Why the fixation on a freeway interchange that empties on farmland? Why the push to invest in the “Employment lands when in both Simcoe County and the GTA there is a glut of industrial land? Isn’t there a better use for environmentally sensitive land and farmland?
Simcoe Road: According to  town manager Courrier, the upgrade for the south end of  Simcoe road is tied into the 5th Line interchange construction. EDITORIAL COMMENT:  Why do residents twho have been dealing with this pothole-ridden road have to wait for the road to be repaired? Again the needs of some future population are more important than the needs of the current residents and taxpayers.
HWY 400 Median Upgrade: Council passed an exemption to the town noise byway regulations for six months with an option for the clerk to extend it another six months as necessary. This work is usually done at night. The exemption goes from Canal Road to the 13th.
Transit: The town received a deputation from Metis Transportation to set up public transit for BWG and the town would have no set-up or operating costs. Unfortunately the presentation did not offer any financial insights other than saying the system would be paid for wholly from advertising and fares. All of the work done to this point by the Town would be put aside and the company would do new needs studies. Under the existing program the town has just issued a request for bids on two transit buses. The presenter said that there isn’t any place this type of system has been implemented. They presented letters of support from the County and several communities. EDITORIAL COMMENT: A review of the website doesn’t yield much in the way of additional information. Not much in the way of planning or finances. A transit system with low fares and that doesn’t cost the taxpayers is an attractive idea but where is the planning?
Fire Department: The COW approved single-source purchasing of an emergency communications system and specialized fire extinguisher training equipment.