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Hansen Boulevard connection opens after years of delays

August 13, 2026   ·   0 Comments

By Sam Odrowski

After years of delays, development changes and frustration from residents, the long-awaited Hansen Boulevard connection is finally open in Orangeville.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony marking the road’s connection took place on Aug. 11, with representatives from Orangeville and the developer, Great Gulf.

The opening completes the final unconstructed section of Hansen Boulevard between Blind Line and Veterans Way, a major collector road that has been built in stages as surrounding residential developments have progressed. The completion has allowed the long-standing barricades at College Avenue to be removed, opening the road to through traffic.

Orangeville Mayor Lisa Post said the completed connection is a significant piece of infrastructure for the community, particularly for residents of the Veterans Way subdivision who have long had limited access to the rest of Orangeville due to the barriers at College Avenue.

“Honestly, this piece of infrastructure is such a significant connectivity piece for the community, just really making sure that the Veterans Way subdivision residents feel more connected to the rest of Orangeville,” Mayor Post said. “It has been a long road, and I know residents were frustrated by that.”

The Hansen Boulevard alignment was planned through a municipal Class Environmental Assessment in 2006-07. The western stretch of the road, between Blind Line and Veterans Way, was constructed in three incremental segments between 2008 and 2016 as surrounding subdivisions were developed, with a creek crossing over a tributary of Lower Monora Creek built by the town in 2023 as part of the planned Hansen Boulevard connection.

The last remaining stretch fell within future subdivision lands owned by the developer, meaning the town could not simply construct the road itself.

Mayor Post said the biggest factor behind the delay was the timing of development.

“No developer was going to build the road until they were ready to build homes,” she said.

Post said the Town could have pursued other options, including annexing the land itself, but decided against it.

“It’s not the right way to do it. The right way is to have the developer do it,” she said.

The road required underground servicing for the new subdivision, meaning water, sewer and other infrastructure needed to be installed before the final road could be completed.

“Because underneath that road is the servicing that their new subdivision is going to require, so that all goes into the ground first before the road is constructed on top of it,” Mayor Post said.

“You don’t want to build the road and then rip it all up to put servicing in when it’s development time.”

The town’s project information says the developer was unable to proceed with the subdivision because home sales were needed to begin construction, while challenges in the construction economy and real estate market delayed the project.

The lands changed hands in July 2022, when NG Citrus Limited, an entity of Great Gulf, became the owner. The company subsequently moved forward with the next phase of the subdivision.

“Once Great Gulf acquired the land, they were extremely motivated to work with the town, to work with the community, and really to be good community partners,” she said.

“They knew how important this connection was for us.”

Mayor Post said Great Gulf continued moving ahead despite the difficult housing market across Ontario.

“Development across the province has basically stopped, and that could have been a very good reason for them to say, ‘We don’t want to build this road right now,’ but they did,” she said.

Mayor Post added that the developer understood the connection was also important to moving forward with its housing plans.

“They’ve got homes scheduled to be built there, and they knew that this was a key piece of those homes being built,” she said.

The Hansen connection has been the subject of repeated questions and frustration in the community for years. Construction on the next phase of the development began in fall 2025, with work including the internal road network and the remaining Hansen Boulevard connection.

The opening also marks the end of the long-standing barricades at College Avenue.

In 2022, council rejected a motion to open College Avenue to traffic before the Hansen Boulevard missing link was complete. Council was told the Hansen connection was expected to be completed by fall 2023, with a worst-case timeline extending into summer 2024.

The proposal to open College Avenue would have allowed residents west of the missing Hansen section to travel through the roadway, but council ultimately kept the road closed.

Mayor Post said the decision was intended to prevent traffic from being funnelled through College Avenue before Hansen was available to serve as the area’s primary east-west connection.

“One of the reasons that we kept College closed is because that opening really could have fed all of the traffic for Veterans Way down it, which wouldn’t have been the right thing to do,” she said.

“College is not meant to be that type of road, Hansen is. So once Hansen opened, it was always the plan that College Avenue would open as well.”

Now that the connection is open, the town plans to monitor how traffic moves through the area.

Mayor Post said she has spoken with the town’s traffic engineering team about beginning traffic counts and speed monitoring, with some data collection expected around the beginning of the school year.

“Will there be enhanced traffic? Probably a little bit. Do I think it’s going to be hugely significant? I don’t,” she said.

“But I have talked to my traffic engineer team to ensure that we start doing those traffic counts and speed monitoring as soon as possible to make sure that we’re not being reactive. We want to be proactive in how we’re handling that enhanced traffic.”

The town has also announced that transit service will be expanded to the area this fall, with buses able to use the new connection.

While the road is now open, some construction work remains. Mayor Post said another layer of asphalt will be added after more of the surrounding development is completed, while truck traffic will continue as housing construction moves forward.

She estimated the first phase of housing construction could take about 18 months.

The town identified the Hansen Boulevard connection as a major collector road intended to connect Blind Line in the east with Veterans Way to the west. Its completion is tied to the surrounding residential development, including the Edgewood Valley Phase 2B lands owned by NG Citrus Limited, an entity of Great Gulf.

For Mayor Post, the road represents more than improved traffic flow.

“Absolutely, this was a key to unlock more housing, so I’m excited for that,” she said.

She said the experience also reinforced the importance of coordinating transportation infrastructure with development.

“I think there’s an opportunity when we’re doing development to make sure that the infrastructure is there to support it early on in the process,” Mayor Post said.

She said she understands the frustration residents experienced while waiting for the connection.

“I just want to thank the community for their patience. I understand how frustrating it has been over the years,” Mayor Post said. “As a member of council, I have felt frustrated with the process as well.”

“I think that now that Hansen’s open, it’s funny — we’ll probably look back in a year and forget what it was like when it was closed, because it’s just going to be such a natural path,” she added.

Mayor Post also urged drivers to respect the posted speed limits now that traffic can travel through the area.

“Just respect your neighbours, follow the speed limits, take care of each other and watch for pedestrians,” Mayor Post said. “We can all have a nice, safe route there now.”

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