Ideally, major highways in Ontario can handle 1,200 vehicles per hour.
That means if there is one driver per car, 1,200 people can be moved in that hour. If there is a car pool of four people, 4,800 people can be moved in the same time frame.
With a bus load of 50 people and 1,200 buses, the number of people moving along the road becomes enormous, efficient, cheaper and likely more environmentally friendly.
That is one method Ministry of Transportation (MTO) Information Officer Will MacKenzie used to explain the planning now going into transportation routes for the Greater Toronto Area, and by extension the southern part of Wellington County.
MacKenzie said the province can increase capacity of its roads that way at basically no cost at all.
But, “There’s a lot of options,” he said in an interview at River Run Centre, where the MTO placed on display the results of two earlier meetings for the area and proposals for the future. The options include transport by road, air, water and rail.
The road part includes GO buses and other methods of moving goods and people.
MacKenzie said the provincial government had stopped a lot of long-term planning in transportation for several years, and he is pleased to see it is starting to do more of it.
Among the options the ministry is considering for the next 20 years or so include widening the 400 series highways as well as feeder highways. It might mean some widening to the Hanlon Expressway running through Guelph, or even a new transportation corridor close to the city.
The meeting display considered not only options, but potential benefits and problems that could arise if those options are selected.
One thing, though, has been decided. Officials have determined fixing or improving just one method of transportation is not a reasonable answer. The plan has to include a combination of transportation methods to meet the huge growth expected in the Greater Golden Horseshoe, as it is called.
That area is expected to grow to four million people by 2031. Guelph and Wellington County will be closing in on over 400,000 people.
MacKenzie noted that there will be environmental assessments before choices are implemented, but he pointed out that such work does not just include the natural environment like bunnies or tree frogs. Instead, it will include such things as social, cultural, and economic factors.
MacKenzie said railroads have focused on freight since World War II, but now the province wants to move away from that and carry more people. That would make sense because places like Kitchener, Waterloo, and Guelph, with their “brain-based” universities and jobs, do not need to move large amounts of freight, but rail could move people efficiently.
MacKenzie said the idea is to stop the suburban sprawl and start thinking about hubs and corridors of transportation. “We’re getting a shift in thinking, but it’s slow,” he said.
As he spoke, another MTO official told another interested visitor there might be problems because developers are already planning sprawl where new highway corridors might be needed.
MacKenzie said the issue of transportation, like everything else, comes down to dollars from taxpayers.
“People don’t think of it as coming out of their pockets. The more you ask for, the more you have to put into the pot. Trade-offs have to be made.”
He said for Wellington County there are possibilities of road extensions to the north or south of Guelph, plus possibly the widening of County Road 124, formerly Highway 24.
He noted that MTO officials have figured out that running a widened highway through small towns would likely destroy them, so bypasses might be the best way to go. But, he said, merchants tend to fight bypasses because people do not see their stores.
He said if County Road 124 is widened and comes westbound from Highway 10, then swings south and west again, it might be a possibility for that road, but it could include a bypass for Erin.
The study could have implications for all local municipalities. Zoning for some areas near widened roads may no longer be suitable for, say, single family residences, but might be fine for office buildings.
But, MacKenzie said, there are still no firm plans as MTO considers options.
“Now, we’re speaking in general terms.
That includes a possible new highway corridor. It includes four lanes from Highway 6 north of Guelph to Highway 10, from there to Highway 427; and from there to Highway 400.
Another option is a four lane Highway south of Guelph to Highway 10 and then to Highways 427 and 400.
Erin Mayor Rod Finnie was attending the meeting to consider options because there could be some changes in his municipality from the study.
He agreed, “You may want to bypass around some smaller communities.”
He added that might mean some businesses are hurt, but, “It depends on the nature of the business.”
He said no merchant in small towns expects Highway 401 traffic from Toronto to London to shop along the way.
Erin has already seen its share of traffic because of the corridor from northeast to southwest for trucks carrying auto parts. Those drivers are not stopping to shop.
“It caused major problem,” he said. “A bypass can divert some traffic … People have to be realistic.”
He added local governments are going to have to give strong consideration to the study because it will affect how they permit development.
Finnie said they must “see how to integrate into this.”
He added, though, everything now is very long term. “I will probably be dead before this starts.”
He foresees lots of problems and expense for the MTO.
“You’re talking major expansion, rights of way. People are going to fight.”
That is why the MTO is considering so many options and their benefits.
“It’s always a good idea to have more than one route,” Finnie said.
He noted, too, that the day of the automobile may be waning. He said Rome was built using slave labour to make it mighty.
“We’ve used cheap oil as our slave.”
