PUSLINCH – On Nov. 24 representatives from the Ministry of Transportation and Aecom engineering provided Puslinch council with an overview of the plan to improve connectivity between Guelph and Hamilton along Highway 6.
There will be a public information centre on the plan in early December, but council wanted to be briefed ahead of that and to offer its own input before details are finalized.
Aecom’s Tim Sorochinsky said the first phase will be a new interchange on the Hanlon Expressway between Maltby Road and Wellington Road 34.
Maltby Road will be closed at the Hanlon and there will be a bridge over the Hanlon at Wellington Road 34, as well as on and off ramps.
Concession Road 7, which runs parallel to the Hanlon, will be widened and paved and will funnel traffic from the off ramps along Concession Road 7 to a new roundabout at Wellington Road 34.
This project has been on the books for decades. Environmental assessment studies were done in 1995 and 1997, Sorochinsky said, and the project received a Notice of Approval in 2009.
There have also been other public information centres and Sorochinsky said officials have taken concerns raised into consideration.
For example, the revised plan includes two turnarounds on the Hanlon for emergency vehicles – one north of Maltby Road and an existing one just south of Wellington Road 34.
“It will be faster (for emergency vehicles) to get to the 401 when the interchange is done,” Sorochinsky said.
Lights will be located at stops and “decision points” through the interchange and consideration has been given to nearby residential properties, he said.
Two properties fall above the noise threshold, but they don’t qualify for noise walls, Sorochinsky said, and no other noise mitigation is planned for those properties.
Mayor James Seeley didn’t like the sound of that.
“I would encourage living snow fences at the interchange,” he said. “That could help reduce some of the noise.”
Seeley and councillor Matthew Bulmer were both concerned about the emergency detour route (EDR) with respect to the new interchange and what it would mean to traffic flow through Aberfoyle.
Already it’s trouble if there’s an accident or construction on the 401 and drivers have to detour through the township, they said.
Brock Road and Wellington Road 34 are the detour routes now and the congestion during these events can be paralyzing.
They wanted to see lights or a roundabout on Wellington Road 34 on the west side of the Hanlon to help move traffic in those events.
“We need more controls at the intersection on the west side of the Hanlon,” Seeley said. “For the most part we are left to fend for ourselves.”
“It is officially an EDR,” Bulmer added. “It happens on a regular basis.”
Seeley suggested adding Concession 7 as part of the EDR when the project is complete.
Phase two of the project includes widening the 401 to 10 lanes between Brock Road and the Hanlon. Phase three includes construction of the long-awaited Morriston bypass.
Sorochinsky said utility relocates should occur along the Hanlon this summer and then construction of the new interchange will begin in the fall. Phase one is to be completed in 2024.
The public information centre will run Dec. 6 to 12 online at highways6and401hamiltontoguelph.ca.
