Line 8 is due to get a facelift in 2023, but the full reconstruction will have to wait until the completion of a long-delayed environmental assessment.
Bradford West Gwillimbury staff updated councillors regarding the ongoing work happening in advance of the potential road repair and how that project will need to be juggled with the work planned on Holland Street as part of the town’s downtown revitalization.
It’s about time, said Coun. Nickolas Harper.
“It took about 12 years just to get it paved - from ’90 to 2002 - and then another 20 years now, and with the delay in 2020, this road is definitely due,” he said. “It definitely has major concerns…. I’m looking forward to the (environmental assessment) and I know the residents are looking forward to it as well.”
The concept of Line 8 as a major thoroughfare may still seem foreign to many long-time residents of the community, who recall it as a gravel road between Barrie Street and Sideroad 10, prior to when development on the south side of the road began in the late 1980s.
Yet, it has acted as part of a de facto bypass of downtown Bradford since the early 2000s when the road was fully paved, something that is only increasing with the prohibition of transport trucks on Holland Street and will be amplified when Line 8 is a detour route when Holland Street is ripped up.
It’s a precarious situation for the town, as having a reconstructed Line 8 should be a pre-requisite before any work begins on Holland Street, in order to ensure traffic can continue to flow through the municipality during the downtown project. However, the Holland Street project is further ahead in the planning process than Line 8, and to keep the project moving, it should go forward as soon as possible.
The $1.18 million set aside by the town for the resurfacing of Line 8 from Barrie Street to Sideroad 10 for 2023 makes it a “best of both worlds” scenario in the eyes of Coun. Jonathan Scott.
“I think we’ve all been wrestling with how we want to sequence Line 8 and Holland Street. Generally, I think that from a traffic flow perspective, we all understand that having optimized traffic flowing on Line 8 before the Holland Street transformation project makes good sense,” Scott said. “The way I see it is that we’re going to get a brand-new road if we follow through with the process and the (environmental assessment) process would essentially go forward in tandem…. It’s a way to do a Phase 1 this summer and a Phase 2 shortly thereafter.”
While not as lengthy as the downtown revitalization process, it's taken three different councils to get this far on Line 8. A 2016 environmental assessment called for the road to be four-laned to accommodate growth and traffic needs up to 2041. However, this was completed before the Province of Ontario committed to building the Bradford Bypass, which decreased the projected traffic volume along the sideroad.
Still, Line 8 will need to be reconstructed, whether or not the Bradford Bypass actually gets built. The road has been maintained as needed by the town’s transportation department, but throughout January, town staff have been completing geotechnical investigations to determine the road’s structural integrity.
Those results and what action they require council to take will be shared after the winter. If the geotechnical investigation determines enhancements to the road base are needed due to the increase in truck traffic, the additional funds will likely come from development charges and Community Services funding.
The new information will force the town to reinitiate the environmental assessment, which will take until the end of 2023. Staff predict that realistically, shovels won’t be in the ground on any intersection or boulevard reconstruction on Line 8 until 2025. Even then, the work will likely be more of an enhancement to what staff has budgeted for in 2023, instead of replicating the work.
Coun. Joe Giordano wondered what the town could do to be shovel-ready once that environmental assessment is completed. Peter Loukes, Director of Development and Engineering Services, suggested that wouldn’t actually be in the town’s best interest.
“Part of the problem with trying to start design in advance (is that) there’s an appeal period at the end of an (environmental assessment),” Loukes said. “Trying to do that in advance is not as transparent. Some people might consider you’re preemptively coming up with your own solution (and) because you’re spending money on the detailed design, you’re pushing a certain objective, which may or may not be what (the public) want.”
