In addition to some of the notable newsmakers from 2024 — including the growth management plan, Jalsa Salana convention, Royal Canadian Air Force centennial celebrations and permissions for accessory dwelling units — there are also a few other issues that are likely to be key concerns for Bradford residents and council in 2025.
Bradford Bypass
With four major announcements from the Ontario Ministry of Transportation, 2024 saw progress accelerate on the long-awaited highway, but just how far down the road anyone should expect an opening date is still up in the air.
The bypass is planned to be a four-lane controlled access highway spanning 16.3 kilometres to link highways 400 and 404, with the potential to be expanded to eight lanes in future.
On May 9, Minister of Transportation Prabmeet Sarkaria announced the province had awarded a $16-million contract to AECOM for the detailed design of the 6.5-kilometre western portion of the route from Highway 400 to County Road 4 (Yonge Street).
On July 17, Sarkaria was back in town to announce the province had awarded a $91-million contract to Dufferin Construction for the replacement of the bridge and interchange at Highway 400 and County Road 88.
Anticipated to finish in 2028, the work is planned to accommodate the 400’s future expansion to 10 lanes, widen the bridge and nearby portions of CR 88 to four lanes from two, and to reconfigure the interchange into a partial cloverleaf. A new lane is also planned to connect the 400 with the bypass.
On Oct. 28, the minister returned to announce the province had awarded a “major contract” for construction management of the western portion of the bypass to The Miller Group’s Brennan Paving and Construction.
That includes the design, quality control, safety and overall delivery of the entire western section, and Sarkaria said he couldn’t disclose the value of the contract.
During that same visit, the minister touted the completion of the new bridge taking CR 4 over the bypass route — part of the early works which includes the province’s portion of a project to widen CR 4.
The County of Simcoe’s portion saw the road closed from Oct. 21 to Dec. 6, when it reopened a week early.
As part of the detour, Sideroad 10 saw a surge of traffic, which could be set for future repeats, because work to widen CR 4 to four lanes from two from north of Line 8 in Bradford to CR 89 in Innisfil is expected to continue into 2028, according to the county’s project page.
Most recently on Dec. 17, Sarkaria was back in town to announce the province had awarded a contract for tree removal and grading along the western portion of the bypass to Kodiak Tree Services.
There’s no word yet on how many announcements Bradford residents should expect in 2025, but the minister has regularly reiterated the province’s commitment to the project.
New civic centre
This year saw a number reveals, updates and changes to the plans for Bradford’s future town hall at 125 Simcoe Rd. — more recently rebranded as a civic centre for it’s inclusion of a theatre and gymnasium in addition to council chambers and town offices.
Building on work from late 2023, on Feb. 20 council approved proceeding with a 30-per-cent detailed design option, which then included an administration building, auditorium/council chamber, multi-purpose double gymnasium, community room, public meeting rooms plus an outdoor public plaza.
At the time it was also planned to include 160 underground parking spaces.
However, by the time Ronen Bauer and Diarmuid Nash of Moriyama Teshima Architects (MTA) updated council’s strategic initiatives committee on Aug. 27, the idea of underground spaces had essentially been abandoned due to complications with the high water table.
Other changes included essentially flipping the layout along both the north-south and east-west orientations with an entrance off Simcoe Road leading into a four-storey central atrium with skylight.
On the east half, the previous design’s outdoor plaza was replaced by a two-storey lobby, which would connect to the atrium and face toward the Bradford and District Memorial Community Centre.
Between the two buildings, MTA proposed a pedestrian plaza as almost all of the existing parking lot would be covered.
On Oct. 7, councillors determined the remaining pieces of the design puzzle including mass-timber construction, 150 surface parking spaces, air-source heat pumps for the HVAC system and a green roof over the gym, atrium and theatre.
Based on those decisions and valuations from MTA, chief administrative officer Geoff McKnight estimated the total construction cost would be slightly more than $100 million.
While Ian Goodfellow, the town’s director of finance and treasurer, didn’t have time to update his calculations based on those decisions, he presented councillors with a brief financial overview showing about $90 million of the construction cost would need to come from long-term debt, the cost of servicing which was expected to start at about $950,000 in 2025, but quickly grow to $6.8 million by 2026.
Even after projected revenues, as a result of debt servicing and other operating expenses, the project is expected to require increasing the tax levy by about $677,000 in 2025, growing to a little more than $5 million by 2026.
All of those figures resulted in sticker shock for councillors, but Goodfellow explained staff are working on a long-term financial plan for the civic centre and more.
On Nov. 26, staff updated councillors on the revised theatre/council chamber layout and the project timeline.
That includes a new council arrangement which would see chairs and tables rolled into position in front of the stage as needed and stored when not in use, as well as a maximum of 386 seats.
If everything goes according to plan, council could authorize sending the construction contract to market in July or August, and the project could break ground before the end of 2025.
Bradford Highlands Golf Club
This year saw the contentious concept to redevelop the vacant Bradford Highlands Golf Club revived, much to the dismay of residents.
Despite a rough reception at meetings in May and July 2022, plans for a new residential development on the property officially known as 23 Brownlee Dr. (plus 2820, 2824 and 2848 Line 5), returned to council on April 2 this year with a new twist — a request for a Community Infrastructure and Housing Accelerator (CIHA) order.
CIHAs were made defunct on June 6, and the request has since been switched to the similar Ministerial Zoning Order (MZO), which allow the provincial minister of municipal affairs and housing the power to make orders for zoning land (outside of the Greenbelt area) to determine the permitted use, size and spacing of buildings.
In order to create the new subdivision, Bradford Highlands Joint Venture (BHJV) — which includes ICG Golf, Bayview-Wellington (Highlands) and 2523951 Ontario Limited — want to revise the town’s settlement boundary to include the properties and have them rezoned from rural to residential.
The 60-hectare property was proposed to include 998 units, including 342 single-detached homes, 196 semi-detached homes, 334 street townhouses, and 126 back-to-back townhouses, plus parks.
The property borders 20 existing homes along Brownlee and wraps around a group of 14 more at the end of the street.
Seeing mention of that plan, about two dozen residents attended the meeting to speak out against it.
Those residents were informed a public meeting would come in future, but some councillors couldn’t wait to weigh in, recommending the inclusion of green buffers to offset the impact on the existing property owners who invested in estate homes, as well as the inclusion of natural features and a canal trail for residents to enjoy.
On June 11, more than 70 people packed council chambers for the public meeting, eager to share their concerns including: impacts on property values, too much density, issues with nearby septic systems, not enough parks or commercial space, an increase in traffic, not enough walking options, impacts on privacy, the proposed maximum heights of 13 metres and the need for affordable units and apartments.
Residents also emphasized comments from the Simcoe County District School Board (SCDSB) on the need for a school, as well as concerns from the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority (LSRCA) over the need for redesigned drainage.
Don Given, of planning firm Malone Given Parson, spoke on behalf BHJV — as he had in 2022 — to explain their plan, but residents weren’t swayed, with one noting many of the issues could have been addressed already if the developers had better considered prior feedback.
Several councillors opposed the plan for similar reasons, but also suggested the developer should have another opportunity to make changes as Bradford is facing a population target of about 85,000 by 2051.
Since then, BHJV submitted an updated plan on Nov. 1, which reduces the number of proposed units by 36 to 962 in order to make room for an elementary school, plus six-metre-wide walkways and trails to act as a buffer between proposed and existing homes.
They’ve also proposed a revised stormwater pond, and changes to the road network for better drainage and new connection to Brownlee Drive.
Staff confirmed a report on the new proposal is anticipated to be presented to council in the first quarter of 2025.
For more information, visit townofbwg.com/bradfordhighlands.
