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No current plan to widen 10 north of Camilla: MTO

August 18, 2016   ·   0 Comments

Notices sent this week to Dufferin residents who live near Highway 10 disclose planned work on the highway between Orangeville and Primrose that includes rehabilitation of pavement, bridges and culverts and improvement of one intersection but not any widening of the two-lane road north of Camilla.

Mono Deputy Mayor Ken McGhee told the Citizen Wednesday he has seen the notice sent out by the Transportation ministry’s London-based West Region and expects both his council and Dufferin County Council will seek to have the project include widening to four lanes between Camilla and Primrose with a fifth lane for left turns at all intersections and the entrance to the County’s work yards near Primrose.

Saying that in his view the current traffic loads on the highway merit four lanes as far north as Dundalk, Mr. McGhee said he sees the lack of good transportation infrastructure, along with the limited access to natural gas and high-speed Internet as responsible for the lack of economic growth in Dufferin and Grey counties.

Noting a lack of data from the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) on its long-term planning, he said the ministry “has to bring us more information on what it’s doing.”

One thing he would like to know is what traffic volumes existed on the highway when it was widened in two stages between Orangeville and Camilla – initially to a point north of Hockley Road and then to just north of Camilla.

A two-lane highway that was asphalt between Brampton and Forks of the Credit Road, Highway 10 got a concrete surface in the 1920s all the way to Owen Sound. Its widening to four lanes began in the 1960s, after the government of Premier John Robarts was criticized for raising to 60 m.p.h. (about 100 km/h) the asphalt portion below the Escarpment, which had narrow lanes and almost no shoulders.

Initially widened to four lanes, the road below Forks of the Credit Road later got a fifth lane for left turns, a standard adopted when the highway was widened up to Orangeville.

The Citizen’s request for statistics on current traffic volumes north of Camilla and the volumes when widening was deemed necessary between Orangeville and Camilla brough an MTO promise that the information will be provided in a few days.

Entitled “Notice of Study Commencement,” the pamphlet from MTO’s West Region Planning and Design Section disclosed that Dillon Consulting Limited had been retained for the study “of the rehabilitation of 19.4 km of Highway 10 from Orangeville northerly to Primrose.”

The study was being undertaken “primarily to address the existing pavement condition and will include pavement resurfacing, drainage improvements, minor intersection improvements, culvert rehabilita-tions/replacements and minor electrical work.”

The work is also to include rehabilitation of the Nottawasaga River bridge midway between Sideroads 20 and 25. Subject to funding and approvals, construction is expected to be completed in 2017 and 2018.

Sent over the name of Scott Howard, senor project manager for MTO’s West Region, the notice advised: “The purpose of this Notice is to advise area residents, businesses and agencies of the upcoming work. We are interested in obtaining your comments regarding the existing conditions in the area or questions regarding the proposed construction activities. We are requesting comments by September 9, 2016.”

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