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Construction traffic ordered off Alton’s Queen Street

August 19, 2015   ·   0 Comments

Alton residents have got what they wanted. The Town of Caledon has decided that construction traffic from the massive Thomas Farm development on the hamlet’s western outskirts will not be able to use Queen Street to and from the site.

CAO Doug Barnes issued a statement saying the Town has a legal opinion that a ruling by the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) established that construction vehicles must use Mississauga Road to the west of the development.

Councillor Barb Shaughnessy was pleased with the news, “which is a real win-win for the residents of Alton.”

She also praised the work of residents in bringing it about. About 100 signed a petition earlier this year, calling on Town Council to make sure Queen Street was not used by construction vehicles. As well, two local residents appeared before council last month to press the case.

The plan calls for 111 homes to be developed on the property at the southeast corner of Queen Street and Mississauga Road, just west of the Alton Legion hall.

Barbara McDiarmid said the main concern was safety, pointing out that there is a lot of pedestrian traffic, as well as tourists visiting the area, and they wouldn’t expect to have to deal with a lot of trucks too.

She also had concerns about the noise the trucks make, as well as the vibrations they create.

Pamela Stratton said people had been told Mississauga Road was to be the truck route, and no one had been told that had changed.

It turned out that is what had been called for in an OMB decision from 1991, Councillor Shaughnessy reported.

“You don’t always get everything you want from an OMB decision, but there are concessions,” she commented.

One of those concessions in the ruling was trucks were to use Mississauga Road, which in those days was known as the 4th Line, West.

Ms. Shaughnessy also said that provision might have been easy to miss. It only took up about two lines in a 30-page decision, “but they are a valuable two lines to the people of Alton.

“The Town of Caledon is already enforcing it,” she observed last Thursday, adding Caledon OPP has also been informed of the situation.

Mayor Allan Thompson said signs banning the trucks went up last week. The mayor also credited Ms. Shaughnessy and Councillor Doug Beffort for the work they did to bring this about.

“Both Doug and Barb have pushed extremely hard to get this changed,” he remarked.

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