That Puslinch councillors are upset a Highway 6 bypass is taking so long to come to fruition is nothing new.
But last week councillors blasted Ministry of Transportation officials for failing in the meantime to take even basic precautionary measures to improve the safety of the highway, which has a daily traffic volume of over 25,000 vehicles – 12% of which is commercial.
“It looks like nothing has happened so far,” said councillor Susan Fielding, alluding to changes she said the ministry promised after a public meeting in Carlisle in April 2009.
She explained none of the safety improvements cited by MTO area traffic manager Fabio Saccon – larger signs, flashing “Prepare to Stop” signals, improved pavement markings and recessed centre line reflective pavement markers – have occurred along the northern section of the highway in Puslinch.
“We were given commitments that things would be done,” Fielding told Saccon. “I just feel like we’re left holding the bag again … We haven’t seen anything.”
Primarily, she noted, the Puslinch section of the highway is in desperate need of larger speed limit signs, shoulder improvements, better lighting, more consistent speed limits around Morriston and a sign warning motorists that lanes are reduced from five to two near the village.
“We’re not asking a lot,” she said, adding local drivers deserve the same treatment as those along the southern portion of the highway.
“It’s a lot different when you have to deal with something.”
Saccon noted the MTO?will begin installing the reflective pavement markers along the Puslinch portion of the highway this week.
He acknowledged most of the changes Fielding mentioned will not cost a lot of money, but he said this was the first he was hearing of some of the improvements. He explained part of the problem is the stretch of Highway 6 from Freelton to Highway 401 falls under two MTO jurisdictions – central and west.
But Fielding and Mayor Brad Whitcombe said those are poor excuses. There should be better communication between the regions, they said, and the MTO should be well aware of the necessary safety upgrades, because the township presented them to the ministry last year.
“They’re very modest requests,” said Whitcombe. “We just need something tangible so folks can see things are happening here.”
Councillors appeared particularly frustrated when Saccon said changing the speed limit around Morriston could require an MTO study.
“We’re getting very mixed signals here, and not a lot of support,” Fielding said, noting the ministry also said it would take “years” to get approval for Highway 6 signs for the township’s newly-established Road Watch program.
Whitcombe also questioned the validity of Saccon’s claim that the collision rate for Highway 6 (0.6 incidents per million vehicle kilometres) is actually 25% lower than the provincial average (0.8).
“Those statistics don’t give me a lot of comfort,” the mayor said, adding the number of injuries, head-on collisions and fatalities on Highway 6 is higher than the provincial average.
Whitcombe requested the MTO keep the township informed as to what it is working on locally and the timeline for any safety improvements.
Councillor Dick Visser said the MTO can make all the improvements it wants, but “the ultimate safety factor” is building the new bypass around Morriston.
Robert Bakalarczyk, senior project engineer with the MTO, said while the route and the environmental assessment have been approved, the 12-kilometre, four-lane bypass around Morriston is not on the ministry’s five-year construction plan. However, Bakalarczyk did say officials hope to negotiate land purchases for the highway within a year, and he outlined some of the details being discussed as part of the “value engineering” process.
He explained the MTO’s plan to widen the 401 could have a direct impact on connector lanes proposed as part of the Highway 6 project near the Hanlon Expressway.
He also discussed several design elements that could lower the project cost, such as roundabouts and the possibility of building a two-lane bypass first and adding two more lanes at a later date.
Councillors did not have a favourable reaction to the the possibility of a two-lane bypass or to roundabouts, which they said could pose a problem for large trucks. Councillor Don McKay said the two-lane idea should be scrapped because the ministry may never get back to add the other two lanes.
Bakalarczyk stressed the cost saving measures are just ideas at this point and he acknowledged if the MTO proceeds with a two-lane bypass, it would be “difficult to complete” the other two lanes.
McKay also wondered why the bypass, which has been discussed for over three decades, seems to be taking a backseat to Highway 7 improvements between Guelph and Kitchener.
“Hopefully I’m around when it does happen,” McKay said of the Morriston bypass. “Just build it.”
Fielding also wondered why Highway 7 is the priority.
“[Highway 6] is constantly busy and is more congested … there is a much more pressing need here,” she said.
Councillor Matthew Bulmer agreed the purpose of the bypass is to encourage “interregional” traffic to avoid Morriston, but he warned Bakalarczyk that locals and those wanting to visit should also have an easy path into the village.
“I don’t want to discourage destination traffic,” Bulmer said.
Several councillors said if the project is to proceed in two stages, which Bakalarczyk said is possible, then the portion from the 401 south to Maddaugh Road be completed first, with supplementary work on connections with the Hanlon coming later.
Councillors seemed alarmed when Bakalarczyk said the MTO may require further public consultation if ministry officials decide to proceed with any options from the value engineering study.
“It really means a lot to people around here,” Fielding said of the bypass. “People don’t want more studies, they want something to happen. We need action.”
