Concerned Citizens of King Township

Transportation in King


   GTA West Project

The Province of Ontario has launched this project as part of overall effort to address transportation issues for the defined growth centres in central and southern Ontario. The solutions identified includes more highways and possibly a rail corridor. Choices could also have an impact on the 427.

NOTICE OF MEETING

PLANNING AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

A meeting of the Regional Planning and Economic Development Committee will be held on WEDNESDAY, JUNE 16, 2010, in Committee Room "A", York Region Administrative Centre,

17250 Yonge Street, in the Town of Newmarket, at 1:00 p.m.

Greater Toronto West Corridor Planning and Environmental Assessment Study, 

Public Information Session #4-- Tuesday, June 15, 2010 4:00-8:00 PM

Le Jardin Special Events Centre, the Venetian Room

8440 Highway 27, Woodbridge, ON

It is valuable for citizens to attend this session for several reasons.   I)  To get a personal understanding of this transportation initiative.   2) To express our preference for increasing use of rail and providing more public transportation options (as opposed to building more highways).   3) To express the need to protect the Oak Ridges Moraine. 

             PRESENTATION

            1. GTA West Corridor Environmental Assessment Update

(Presentation by Jin Wang, Project Coordinator, Ministry of Transportation, Ontario and Neil Ahmed, Consultant Project Manager, McCormick, Rankin Corporation)

 REPORT SUBMITTED BY THE COMMISSIONER OF  PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT SERVICES AND COMMISSIONER OF TRANSPORTATION SERVICES

 4. Mid-York East-West Transportation Corridor Study

 
May 25, 2010, recommending that:

1. Staff be authorized to proceed with a feasibility and preliminary engineering study to investigate Highway 400 interchange alternatives and associated east-west road improvements in the corridor north of Teston Road and south of Highway 9.

 2. Following completion of the feasibility and preliminary engineering study, staff report back on the results of the study and a strategy for moving forward with an EA for the mid-York east-west transportation corridor improvements.

 3. A copy of this report be forwarded by the Regional Clerk to the Ministry of Transportation and to the Clerks at the Township of King, City of Vaughan and Towns of Richmond Hill, Aurora and Newmarket.

 Below are extracts from the Mid York East-West corridor. 

2031 “Base Case” scenario addressed much of the travel demand but
capacity issues and congestion on King Road would remain
The “Base Case” scenario assumes all road network improvements recommended in the
TMP are in place to assess if these improvements address the 2031 forecast travel
demand. The improvements are shown in Attachment 2 and include the following:
• New 4 lane road link in the Teston Road corridor from Keele St to Dufferin St.
• Widen King-Vaughan Line (add 2 lanes) plus Highway 400 interchange.
• Widen King Rd west of Highway 400 to 4 lanes.
• New GTA West Freeway from Highway 400 to the west.
• Highway 427 extended to the GTA West Freeway
• Widen Highway 400 from 3 to 4 lanes
• Widen Weston Rd, Jane St, Keele St, Dufferin St and Highway 27 (add 2 lanes)
The TMP improvements included in the “Base Case” capacity analysis represent a total
of 6 additional lanes of east-west capacity (both directions) at the screenline level west of
Dufferin Street between Teston Road and Highway 9 (includes a new 4 lane road link in
the Teston Road corridor from Keele St to Dufferin St. and a 2-lane widening of the
King-Vaughan Line with an interchange to Highway 400).
 
The analysis of this scenario highlighted the benefits of the road improvements
recommended in the TMP. Even with the TMP improvements, there will still be capacity
deficiencies remaining in the network and King Road will continue to be heavily relied
upon for travel in the east-west direction and for access to Highway 400. The analysis
results confirmed the need for additional improvements which were assessed in the “Base
Case Plus” scenario.

 

2031 “Base Case Plus” scenario focused on lack of alternative continuous
east-west arterial roads with access to Highway 400
The third scenario (“Base Case Plus”) includes additional road improvements to address
the key transportation issues in the study area; that being the lack of alternative
continuous east-west roads in the central part of the Region with access to Highway 400.
The “Base Case Plus” scenario assessed the effects of a new interchange with Highway
400 including a continuous east-west arterial road corridor north of King Road and south
of the Lloydtown-Aurora Road. With the additional improvements in the east-west road
network and the additional access to Highway 400, the 2031 forecast travel demand will
be addressed and the forecast traffic on King Road will be reduced.

 
To learn more visit www.gta-west.com

Road Projects of Concern 

 

1. Moving 400/Lloydtown Aurora Rd. interchange south <1 km

We voiced these questions/concerns in December 2008; yet, the Master plan has not answered them.

What is the total plan?   The need to build a new bridge due to the widening of Highway 400 is understood.  If the interchange is to be south l km, what happens at the current location?

What is the “real” east/west corridor plan?  It is not stated but it looks like there is a desire to create a straight east/west corridor from 400 to Bayview, at least, on the 18th SDRD/St. Johns SDRD.    Indications of this are the plans to improve 18th from Bathurst to Yonge and to improve the interchange at St. John and Yonge.

With this new east/west corridor, what are the traffic implications?   Residents on the strip between Jane and Dufferin already are nervous about the speed and level of traffic (both commuters and large trucks going to the gravel depot at Wellington and Dufferin).

How does this new east/west corridor “fit” with the East-West mid-York Study Area option identified at Keele and 17th Sideroad?  Said differently:  is there the possibility of two corridors south of Hwy 9 in King Township? It is our understanding that the East /West corridor is to connect the urban centres identified in the Places to Grow Act.  A east/west corridor through King Township is not consistent with the identified need. Further, if the objective is to link the movement of goods why not create a rail corridor for the east west area that connects to the intermodal rail yard near the 427.

If the plan is not to create a new east/west corridor, why is YR creating a new interchange unnecessarily?  Having just observed the creation of the new interchange at Teston Road and 400, we are acutely aware of the amount of land that is paved (i.e. destroyed) by such initiatives and the cost to taxpayers.  Why create a new interchange?

2.  Bathurst Street North expansion

In the absence of clear definition of benefit or need, it is hard to accept a plan to make such a significant impact on the natural environment and to spend the current estimate of $17 million. 

3.  East-west mid York Transportation Study Area (the option north of 15th SDRD.)

What are the terms of reference for this study?  King Council has requested creation of King City By-pass and that it should be south of King Road. To that end, once the Teston Road interchange is on-line a new assessment of the need should be undertaken. 

Why would you even start assessing the impact of the corridor being in the vicinity of the 15th and 17th Sideroads?   Building a new east- west road down the length of the Moraine somewhere between the 17th and 15th Sideroads would cause major damage.  It is true that infrastructure is permitted on the ORM but only if there is no reasonable alternative.

We encourage the Region of York to use its expertise and energy to find a solution off the Moraine:  the value of the latter has already been proven and that is why there is the legislation to protect it.

4.  King Road West

The master plan shows improvement of King Road west.  As the details of what “improvement "means have not been identified, it is premature to protest; however, as its characteristic hills and valleys are likely to be affected we are concerned.  Do we really want to encourage more traffic on King Road, or to encourage faster speeds? We would support the placement of turning lanes at intersections along King Road to reduce accidents.

Although much of this part of the Road is not on the ORM it is adjacent to it and therefore a significant construction project still presents environmental risk.

5.  Keele Street-- King Rd north to 15th improvement project

Why is an arterial road improvement for Keele being looked at now?  York Region has just conducted an EA for the Keele/15th SDRD intersection; surely the two should have been done together to properly assess the total/real impact of these changes.  This appears to be another example of how impact of projects is minimized by piecemeal EA’s. 

6.  Other Projects

We believe that YR should be objecting to the termination of Highway 427 at Major Mackenzie, a regional road.  It is YR tax payers who will pay for maintenance of traffic coming off the Highway 427.  Whereas, if it terminated on another provincial highway it would reduce traffic on regional roads. 

To conclude, we understand that the population is growing and that people and goods need to move efficiently.   For King Township, the draft 2031 network plan indicates that there continues to be a priority on moving goods & services over  transit and rail service and protecting that which cannot be replaced—our natural environment, a rural community. We encourage the Region to take a sustainable approach that protects the environment within sensitive areas like the Oak Ridges Moraine while providing transportation routes between urban centres. If we are to retain King's rural status it is necessary to reduce commuter traffic through our Township.

        Background

An ongoing risk to our Township's rural character is the ever-growing number of commuters and trucks who pass through the Township. The consequences of this can be significant:

  • air and noise pollution for those living along what used to be "quiet country roads;"
  • applications such as road salt which pollute water wells, and nearby wetlands and vegetation;
  • more maintenance (i.e. spending tax dollars) to keep roads safe;
  • pressure to upgrade roads and facilitate more traffic at higher speeds.

Another risk is new road infrastructure, such as a possible new major highway cutting through the western portion of King: an extended 427. This represents a major assault on the Oak Ridges Moraine and will eliminate a number of productive local farms. 

427 extension

The Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO) is working to provide for the efficient movement of people and goods within the context of the province's Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe as released in July 2006. One of the critical identified problems is the existing and short-term transportation problems related to the current Highway 427 terminus, truck traffic accessibility to and from the CPR Vaughan Intermodal Facility, and their impact on inter-regional traffic in the Peel-York boundary area.

CCKT has been participating in the 427 study from the beginning as potential "solutions" have included extending the highway north, as far as Highway 9. There are numerous routes for this extension but invariably each one traverses the Oak Ridges Moraine (ORM). Such a project would have a disastrous impact on Ontario's rain barrel as the aquifers of the Moraine provide drinking water for 250,000 people.

We believe other solutions must be considered including separating the routing of goods and services, alternative routes and widening existing highways if necessary. CCKT's 427 Committee is composed of individuals who are landowners and business owners in King's threatened area. Together they have created a compelling map of what is there to counteract the foolish comment we have heard at meetings that "nothing is there."

What you can do to help:
      Come to our next public meeting.
      Join the 427 Committee.

To learn more, visit www.427corridor.com

York Region Road Projects

15th sideroad Environmental Assessment
York Region has undertaken an Environmental Assessment on the 15th sideroad; specifically the intersection of Keele and 15th . The notice of completion is posted on their website, at this time there is a 45 day period for comments to be heard.
www.york.ca/...Notice+of+Completion+-+Class+EA+Keele+and+15th+Sdrd.pdf

Do you want to know if York Region has started a project or when there is a meeting about a regional road? Go to www.york.ca/Public+Notices/Public+Notices_Roads.htm

Transit

To find our about transit options in King, visit: www.yrt.ca , or for transit to the city www.gotransit.ca

To participate in a study looking at transit options for the GTA please visit www.metrolinx.com