Projects tackling traffic congestion and safety in Bradford West Gwillimbury will be done in the next four years, but new alternate routes in and out of town will likely take longer, said the town’s chief administrative officer.
With the Highway 400-404 Connecting Link years away, Town of BWG council has been pushing for smaller projects, such as traffic calming measures and signalization changes, to help alleviate some congestion sooner.
“It was a very big issue at the door in this last year. The (transportation master plan) is great … but I need to see some kind of action in the next term,” said Deputy Mayor James Leduc during 2019 budget talks this week.
“We all want the link. Even if we hear from (the provincial government) today, it’s still a five to seven year project.”
Council has officially made transportation and traffic congestion its top priority for this four-year term.
Town staff should have project outlines for some community safety projects by this spring, said CAO Geoff McKnight.
Whether alternate routes can be completed in this council term is “questionable,” he said, adding analysis for alternative roads can take place in the next one or two years.
Planning for and designing alternate routes is complicated because the town needs to have neighbouring municipalities on board to connect to those roads, he said.
For that reason, McKnight said, it is important to involve the County of Simcoe and York Region.
“I foresee that exercise as being as consumptive as the analysis part. Our municipality doesn’t have full control,” he said.
Council OK’d $200,000 in the budget for a new transportation master plan, with the idea to revisit it in the spring to get a better idea of the work involved and what kind of budget is needed.
The master plan is funded by development charges, so any future changes will not affect the tax base, he said.
“I think it would be wise to, in a sense, park this… Park’s not the best word — off-street park this, and we’ll come back with a scope for the work that they’re proposing,” he said.
