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Orangeville sets wheels moving toward traffic bylaw overhaul

October 2, 2025   ·   0 Comments

By JAMES MATTHEWS, LOCAL JOURNALISM INITAITVE REPORTER

Orangeville brought a streamlined bylaw to residents that it hopes will address some of the issues broached by the municipality’s growth in recent years.

The Right-of-Way Management Bylaw will replace bylaws that pertain to traffic, idling vehicles, and the sale of goods on highways.

Tony Dulisse, the town’s transportation and development manager, told council during its Sept. 22 meeting that staff in multiple municipal departments started to hash out the necessary elements for an updated, more encompassing traffic bylaw about 18 months ago.

The new version will better manage activities on roadways, boulevards, sidewalks, and trail systems in Orangeville, he said.

“This new bylaw addresses many things,” Dulisse noted.

The current bylaw is about 20 years old and requires updating to reflect changes in provincial regulations and the needs of a growing community.

The new Right-of-Way Management bylaw will include the provisions of the previous bylaw and include new sections to reflect the changing needs of the municipality related to growth, increase in density, changing road management tools and criteria, and new traffic management features such as Pedestrian Crossing Facilities and traffic signals.

Brandon Maynard-Spasov, a transportation and development technologist with the town, defined a right-of-way as town-owned property between private properties. It includes the thoroughfare itself, sidewalks, curbs, and the grass portion commonly called the boulevard.

Orangeville is developing a transportation master plan. As part of that, Maynard-Spasov said the town is looking at identifying 26 more community safety zones. Those will be areas near parks, seniors’ facilities, schools, and the hospital.

The new rules will have something regarding the use of trails, activities that may obstruct traffic, objects such as basketball and hockey nets placed on streets, and idling vehicles.

“Adopting the Right-of-Way Management Bylaw will provide the town [with] a greater level of control of activities on the right of way,” Maynard-Spasov said. “It will provide tools such as permitting to ensure compliance with minimum maintenance and construction standards.”

“It includes an update to include new road safety tools. It better defines what is permissible on the right-of-way, creating less confusion and more interaction,” he added.

Quite simply, adopting the bylaw is the right thing to do, he said.

One Thompson Road resident said she was concerned about 24-hour parking limitations in the new bylaw.

“In my mind, it’s a socio-economic inequity issue,” she said.

Everybody doesn’t have a multi-vehicle parking setup, she said. And she feels a blanket solution won’t work in Orangeville.

“I do understand there’s an issue that needs to be addressed,” she said, noting that she’s aware of people with four-car driveways who park their vehicles on the road.

“I think this blanket solution is going to impact members of the community differently,” she said. “The people that are going to be impacted the most are lower-income individuals and families, seniors, disabled or injured people.”

“The bylaw is not meant to penalize people,” Deputy Mayor Todd Taylor said. “And yet when you make solutions, you always seem to do that. There’s somebody that always finishes on the short end of the stick.”

The 24-hour limit is directed toward people who leave a vehicle on the road for five or six months and are insensitive to predicaments faced by other residents because of that, he said.

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