Perth East Comments on HWY 7 Corridor - March 2011 FINAL

8/7/2019 Perth East Comments on HWY 7 Corridor - March 2011 FINAL

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Township of Perth East

Glenn Schwendinger, Chief Administrative OfficerP.O. Box 455, 25 Mill Street East Phone- (519) 595-2800

Milverton, Ontario N0K 1M0 Fax- (519) 595-2801

Email: [email protected]

March 23, 2011

Ms. Brenda Jamison, P. Eng.Consultant Project ManagerAECOM300 Water StreetWhitby, ON L1N 9J2 [email protected]

Charles Organ C.E.T.MTO South Western RegionProject ManagerPlanning and Design Section659 Exeter RoadLondon ON N6E [email protected]

VIA EMAIL

Re: Highway 7 & 8 Transportation and Corridor Planning and Class EA Study_____________________________________________________________________________

As the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) proceeds towards the completion of theTransportation and Corridor Planning Environmental Assessment process (EA) the Townshipof Perth East (Perth East) feels it important to highlight the points outlined in this letter. Thepoints as presented (in no particular order) are the result of extensive discussions andcomments around the Council table which have taken place over the several years of this studyand are based on the current understanding of the most recent MTO proposal made public in

January of 2011.

1. Crossings of the Corridor – Transportation through/over this corridor (whether it is inthe section along the existing alignment or the sections of new alignment) is critical.Transportation for the purpose of this discussion includes the provision of safe,adequate, and appropriate crossings for all vehicles and equipment which travelsregularly throughout this area. This includes but is not limited to:

a. Emergency vehicles (EMS, Fire, Police) - cannot increase response times in anylocations

b.

Township and County road maintenance vehicles and equipmentc. School buses

d. All agriculture-related equipment

e. All business providing services and materials to the agricultural industry

f. pedestrians




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2. Railway Crossings - The increased volumes and highway configurations could verylikely result in the need for the installation of crossing arms at the railway crossingwhere they do not already exist. The installation of the these safety systems represents asignificant expense to a local municipality in terms of initial capital costs as well as on-going annual operating charges levied on the municipality by the rail authourity. If theneed for the installation of these crossing arms is mandated by traffic volumes of thehighway, then all of the related the costs of the crossing arms should be theresponsibility of MTO, whether or not the arms are on a local municipal road.

3. Land Acquisitions– once a final decision is made by the province, it is imperative thatthe province proceed as quickly as possible to acquire all the necessary lands at fair

market value. This is necessary to allow the affected property owners to move forwardand plan appropriately to carry on with their businesses, operations and residenceswithout the uncertainty of future impacts at some unspecified time.

4. Proposed Alignment East of Shakespeare – there are concerns associated with thesection of the proposed highway in this location and the appropriateness of maintainingthe alignment through the existing corridor. These concerns include:

a. Safe access to existing properties

b. Sight lines

c. Topography

d. Space limitation between existing structures and significant existing features (i.e.Fryfogal Inn, Lingelbach cemetery)

e. Existing narrow crossing under railway

5. Existing Conditions Shakespeare-New Hamburg – it is Perth East’s understanding thatthe existing conditions along this section are at or are approaching a point where safetyissues must be addressed by the MTO. There is concern that safety issues will increasewithin this particular zone. The approach of waiting to have these concerns addresseduntil such time as the entire highway is constructed at some unspecified point in thefuture may not be the best course of action. The current situation results in significantvolumes of traffic diverting off Highway 7/8 onto two local municipal roads (Line 33and Line 37) which in effect causes them to be by-passes for a provincial highway atconsiderable expense to local tax payers. In recent correspondence, the Minister ofTransportation has offered to meet with Perth East in an effort to determine the best wayto address this particular issue during this unspecified interim period. Perhaps theexpansion of the County road network in this area with financial assistance from theprovince could be considered. Perth East intends to follow up with the Minister in thisregard.




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6. Existing Corridor West of Shakespeare – a number of years ago lands were acquired bythe MTO to widen the existing corridor in this section to provide for future expansion ofthe highway. This land has in effect been lying dormant since that time. If the MTO hasmade the determination that there is no longer the need for the expanded corridor widthin this section, then these lands should be returned as soon as possible to the propertyowners to allow them to put these lands back into production. If it is necessary that thisinvolves a financial transaction, the property owners should not be required to pay morethan what they were paid when the MTO acquired the lands.

7. Township Road Network

– The preservation of the existing Township road network isconsidered to be critical in this area. The Township has the responsibility to provideemergency service access throughout this entire area. The preservation of the existingroad network is critical in this regard when considering the need to maintain responsetimes required for these services.

8. Access to Shakespeare – Access to Shakespeare is vital to the entire communityincluding local residences, business, and tourism. The maintenance, preservation,and/or improvement of access to Shakespeare is critical in terms of ensuringShakespeare’s continued viability and continued benefit to the surrounding community.

9. Opportunity for Affected Landowner Input – Regardless of the final location of the

highway, there will be direct impact on certain properties in terms of access andseparation of existing parcels. It is critical that property owners in these circumstancesbe given the opportunity to provide input in the solutions that will affect them directly.

10. Trigger levels of Traffic Counts – Based on the information presented over time by theMTO through this study, it appears that one of the key factors impacting the decision tomove forward with the construction at some point in the future is traffic volumes. It isthe Township’s understanding that a component of the need for this undertaking is theprojected future volumes of traffic based on projected growth rates in this and nearbyareas. The Township feels that it is imperative to verify that projected increases in trafficvolume are actually occurring in the future (as projected by the MTO) and that the

actual increases in traffic volume still warrant the construction of the new/improvedhighway.

11. Private access from Shakespeare to New Hamburg – The existing safety concerns alongthis section of highway are key in terms of access to private entrances including accessby private vehicles and school buses. The design must take into consideration andminimize/eliminate the potential conflicts associate with vehicles crossing and turningand children crossing an 80 km/hr section of highway of the projected width.




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12. Reasonable Travel – Reasonable, safe an appropriate travel must be maintainedthroughout the entire area for agricultural operations. This travel is a separate issuefrom individual property access and individual field access. Travel for the purpose ofthis discussion pertains to the movement of all agriculture-related equipment andvehicles necessary to sustain and service the broader agricultural community andrelated businesses. Land holdings of existing agricultural businesses are extensive inmany cases and it is imperative that reasonable travel is maintained throughout thebroader area.

13. Re-consideration of the 5-lane design

– it is Perth East’s understanding that the currentconsideration by the MTO is to have a 5-lane profile for the section between Shakespeareand New Hamburg with a centre left turn lane. It is the Township’s strong view thatthis type of approach may actually increase the safety risk in this area by increasing theopportunities for conflicts and head-on collisions. It must be kept in mind that the speedlimit has been indicated to be 80 km/hr in this section as well. The opportunities forhazardous conditions and conflicts are significant with the centre left turn lane, and arevery likely amplified with the anticipated speed limit. This approach simply creates toomany additional hazards and opportunities for serious consequences which are overand above what exists today.

14. Loss of Agricultural Land – Perth County’s economy is based heavily on agriculture,

directly through individual farms, large farming operations and all supportingindustries and services. The loss of farmland with the area is a significant concern, andevery effort must be made to minimize the amount of land taken from activeproduction. Key areas of concern pertaining to the two sections of the alignment whichdiverge from the existing corridor and the railway thereby taking considerable amountsof land. While it is acknowledged that the highway needs land, every effort should bemade to minimize the amount of Class I, II, & III farmland that is taken out of activeproduction. The severance of parcels cannot create any landlocked parcels.

15. North South Access – It is acknowledged that the primary movement of traffic along thenew alignment will be in the east & west directions. It is imperative that all north &

south access along the Township Roads 111, 110, 109, 108 and 106 be maintained. This isessential for the local agricultural operations as well as agricultural service providersworking in the broader area including but not limited to Harmony, Amulree, Hicksonand Tavistock.

16. Nutrient Management – One key impact of the loss of active farmland on individualfarming operations in the loss of those lands from the inclusion with the provinciallyapproved respective Nutrient Management Plans. Depending on the amount of landstaken by the province and the availability of lands on the remaining holding of theindividual farming operations, the condition could very be created where an operationcould be forced into non-compliance. This is not acceptable at any level. These

operations have gone through considerable time and expense to ensure that theiroperations are in full compliance with provincial regulations. As the province will nowbe creating the situation of the loss of land, the entire and sole obligation is on theProvince to provide a solution to the problem. This solution must be agreeable to theproducers as it affects directly the viability and compliance of their operations.




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17. Rail Transportation - through the course of this undertaking it has been suggested thatthere may be some expansion in the future of the existing rail corridor in terms ofpotentially twinning and/or upgrading the existing tracks. If this in fact the case, it isimperative that this be taken into account when developing all plans, configurations andcrossings. It must also be taken into account when determining the overall impact andthe overall amount of land required.

These are key issues which are prime concerns for the Township of Perth East. It is necessaryfor the MTO to consider each of these issues in developing their plans on moving forward.Each issue is significant and each issues needs an appropriate solution.

In summary, the Township of Perth East notes that a highway in some form will need to belocated somewhere. The reality is that the vast majority of all goods produced here as well asthose consumed here are transported on the roads in this area. Tourism in and through the areaalso travels on these same roads. All transportation of people and/or goods generally affectseveryone in some way, some to a greater extent, some to a lesser extent. The majority of thoseaffected would very likely prefer to have the highway go somewhere else. This isunderstandable. The overall hope and objective is to make the right decisions for the greater

good of all. In making a decision of that nature it is inevitable that some individuals in somelocations will very likely be disappointed and/or be significantly impacted.

It is therefore necessary to take the time to make a good, informed decision, and then proceed.The reality is that discussion on this particular highway have been going on since the 1960’swith nothing taking place yet on terms of actual physical improvements. The result of thiscontinued delay and deferral of a final decision has significant impacts of individual lives andon the overall extended community. If a final decision is made then those people who aredirectly affected, of which there will be some, will at least know and then can make their ownresultant decisions and move forward. A continued state of unknown is not beneficial toanyone, and has actually created division within the overall community unnecessarily and pitsgroups and neighbours against each other. The decision needs to be made, and the project

needs to proceed, and only after that can the necessary changes be made to those whose lives,homes and businesses are directly impacted. Only then can individuals and the extendedcommunity plan for the future and move forward together.

Respectfully submitted,

Glenn SchwendingerChief Administrative Officer

cc Perth East Council

Perth East Comments on HWY 7 Corridor - March 2011 FINAL

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