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Consultant proposes shuffling of county and local roadways

May 6, 2015   ·   0 Comments

Dufferin County Council will next week receive a consultant’s draft report on a “rationalization” of county and local roadways which would see the County system shrink more than 50 kilometres, mainly in Amaranth and Mono.

Locally, the main changes recommended by Collingwood-based C.C. Tatham & Associates Ltd. are the downloading of County 23, which runs along the townline between Caledon and East Garafraxa and up B line, bordering Orangeville and East Garafraxa, and the assumption by the County of Orangeville’s Riddell Road.

Riddell already forms part of Dufferin 109, yet is owned by the town.

Elsewhere, the three main downloads would be in Amaranth, Mono and Grand Valley, with the recommended disappearance of County Road 12 through Laurel, County 8 through Mono Centre and County 15 through Colbeck and Monticello.

In recommending the transfer of County 12, most of which has only recently been rebuilt, the consultant noted that it is close to County 11. “The preference is to maintain County Road 11 as part of the County road system as it provides a more complete north-south service in conjunction with County Road 124, connects to the urban settlement area of Shelburne, and experiences significantly higher traffic volumes from both passenger and heavy trucks due to proximity to commercial developments.”

The proposed return of the Mono Centre Road (County 8) to the lower tier is recommended “based on the results of both the criteria and principle-based assessments. While receiving points for connecting to Mono Centre, County Road 8 does not serve a significant volume of traffic (passenger or truck), offer direct service (i.e. its path is disjointed), contribute a significant level of connectivity or provide continuous service through the County or beyond its borders.”

Similarly, County 15 “did not meet the established criteria and principle assessment requirement for a County road. The road does not contribute to the overall connectivity of the County and does not provide or complement east-west continuity of the County road network. Highway 89 provides a complete upper tier east-west service which renders County Road 15 redundant. It is noted that County Road 15 does provide continuity beyond the Dufferin County boundary through connection with Wellington Road 15; however, Wellington County staff have indicated that Wellington Road 15 has only been maintained as a County road given the fact that it connects with Dufferin County Road 15, and that the road may be considered as a local road should the same occur in Dufferin County.”

The consultant said the road rationalization process was based “on a number of principles which distinguished a County road from a local road. Using these principles, a set of criteria was developed and applied to each County road and a number of local roads in order to rationalize the road network. Through this process, a revised County road network was identified which, should it be implemented, will involve the transfer of roads from the County to the municipality and vice versa.”

Apart from Riddell Road, the only local artery recommended for transfer to the County is a paved 10-kilometre stretch of Mulmur’s 10 Sideroad between County 19 (Prince of Wales Road) and Airport Road which motorists might already believe is a county road.

As for County 19, which runs between Primrose and Mulmur’s 10 Sideroad, the report calls for it to be downloaded on grounds it “offers incomplete north-south and does not provide meaningful connectivity or continuity to the County.”

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