Addington
Highlands Council –
Oct 6, 2008
By
Jeff Green
Plans
for revamping of Highways 7 & 41 intersection
Two
engineers from Genivar Engineering attended a meeting of Addington
Highlands Council this week (October 6) to discuss plans for
improvements to the intersection of Hwy. 41 and Hwy. 7.
Currently
Highway 41 cuts through Highway 7 at an angle, and Steve Taylor from
Genivar explained that there has been a history of collisions at that
location.
Genivar
conducted three public meetings last fall and this spring, in which
they presented several options before coming up with a recommended
plan.
The
recommended plan involves jogging Hwy. 41 to the west at Oliver Road
(on the north end) and rejoining it to the existing road south of the
hamlet of Kaladar.
In
order to make the plan work, the province will need to purchase part
of the lands of the former Kaladar Hotel.
“One
of the virtues of this plan is that it does not require any changes
to the Trans Canada Trail, which is important to the township,”
said Steve Taylor.
Although
the plan includes provisions for exit lanes and will make the
intersection viable for traffic signals, it does not call for traffic
lights at this time.
“The
numbers are not there, according to MTO guidelines,” said Taylor.
Taylor
said that the plan will be submitted to the Ministry of
Transportation. There will be a 30 day period for people to comment
on it, and then it will be left to the ministry to slot it in for
implementation at some time in the future.
“It
will not be for immediate implementation,” Taylor said.
He
asked that the township pass a resolution in support of the plan
before he submits it to the ministry. Council complied.
There
is no expectation that these changes will come about in the near
future, however.
“You
and I won’t be alive to see this,” said Public Works Manager
Royce Rosenblath to Reeve Henry Hogg after Council passed the
resolution.
Township to receive land from Lions Club –
For the cost of a survey, the township will assume lands it currently
leases from the Land O’Lakes Lions Club in Northbrook.
Build
Ontario – The
township has decided to allow Jewell Engineering to prepare an
application to the $200 million federal infrastructure Build Canada
fund for the replacement of the Wager’s bridge near Flinton.
Jewell
will prepare the application for free provided they get the
engineering job if the application is successful.
“We
need to replace the bridge in any case,” said Reeve Hogg, “and it
would be nice to get 2/3 of the cost paid”.
Build
Canada pays 2/3 of the cost for approved projects, but funds are
limited and there will be many applicants.
