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Town Council standing by decision to approve new downtown bus terminal after ‘exhausting’ all options

May 15, 2020   ·   0 Comments

By Mike Baker

Orangeville Council is standing firm on its decision to bring a transit transfer terminal to downtown Broadway. 

On Monday, various Orangeville business owners expressed their concerns to Council over the move, which they say will put the health and safety of pedestrians in jeopardy. It was decided back on April 22, in a 5-2 vote amongst Council, that a bus terminal – discussed and debated by municipal officials for the better part of five years – should be located along Broadway, between First St. and John St. 

As we reported last week, the decision took many people who work in Orangeville’s downtown core by surprise, not least Terrence Carter, Managing Partner of Carters law firm. His organization has been a staple of the Broadway business community for more than 20 years, situated at 209 and 211 Broadway, directly in front of the proposed bus terminal site. Mr. Carter warned Council about the risk they were taking in approving this project for the downtown core. 

“I see people on Broadway. I see the traffic on Broadway. I see people jaywalking. I know what they’re going to do. I’m warning you, members of Council, there is going to be someone injured. That is the reality,” Mr. Carter said. “You are going to be responsible for that decision. You need to rethink. This is your opportunity to do that. Please take it under serious consideration. This is a safety issue for people in Orangeville.”

The discussion kicked off with Coun. Todd Taylor, who chairs Orangeville’s Transit Task Force, taking responsibility for the fact that some of the businesses in the affected area were not made aware of this project before it was approved by Council. 

“There were advertisements in newspapers about what was happening, there were reports in newspapers about what’s happening, there were many public consultations going on. It’s difficult to make sure you bring everyone along,” Coun. Taylor said. “I will accept, though, that potentially something different could have happened there… and accept responsibility for the fact some of the businesses were not informed.”

Frank Gray, owner of 229 Broadway, Matthew McLean, Senior Pastor at Good Friends Fellowship & Lighthouse Ministry at 207 Broadway, and Kyong Ok Lee, owner of Natural Choice at 205 Broadway, each expressed concern over the project. Early on Monday, Council also received a letter from Orangeville Memorials, located at 214 Broadway, owner Robert McBride, contesting Council’s decision.

Local residents Noel and Shirley Ramsey also voiced their opinion, expressing their belief that placing a bus terminal right at the heart of the downtown area was a mistake. 

“We walk the downtown area consistently and have become very familiar with traffic and pedestrian patterns at this location. The vehicle traffic flow is already very high, and we have been witness to many close calls involving pedestrians attempting to use the legal crossing points,” the Ramseys say. “Adding to this, we see pedestrians illegally crossing Broadway, as well as drivers rushing lights or not obeying traffic and pedestrian signals. The congestion created by adding parked buses here would not only reduce driver and pedestrian vision, it would increase driver frustration and therefore increase driver violation.” 

They added, “It will only be a matter of time before someone is seriously injured, or killed.”

Coun. Taylor, as well as Coun. Grant Peters, expressed doubt over the safety concerns presented by the delegates. Doug Jones, the Town’s General Manager of Infrastructure Services, noted that, while there will be some safety concerns with the proposed location on Broadway, those same concerns would exist no matter where the transfer station was located.

“There may not be two traffic lights in town closer together than those at First St. and John St. Having two opportunities to cross the road should limit the concerns of traffic between the two streets,” Coun. Peters said. 

He added, “All the factors combined, coupled with timeline issues and the fact this has been beaten around for so long… If the system is going to flourish, we need to get to four routes, we need to have a hub location that serves the most amount of people and provides the greatest efficiency. I stand behind my decision that the downtown location serves that purpose.”

The Orangeville Business Improvement Area has openly spoken against this location, with the organization’s general manager Alison Scheel expressing concern over the 11 parking spaces that would be lost to pave way for the transfer terminal. Over the past decade, the OBIA has invested approximately $1.3 million to improve the downtown parking capacity, adding around 85 spots in lots behind Broadway. Ms. Scheel estimates it would cost roughly $187,000 to replace the on-street parking spaces with off-street parking spaces. 

In total, five potential spots across town were considered during the selection process. The next top contender was Centre Street, in front of the Edelbrock Centre. That particular location was actually approved by Orangeville’s previous council, and even received the green light from Dufferin County Council, who gave Orangeville the green light to use a portion of County land to construct lay-by lanes along the road.

That location was eventually nixed due to how close the bus terminal would be to the Orangeville Community Garden, where volunteers grow fruits and vegetables for themselves, local residents and the Orangeville Food Bank. Mayor Sandy Brown said on Monday that he still feels the Centre Street location would be an ideal home for the bus terminal. 

“I’m disappointed we’ve gone ahead with this against the wishes of the BIA and downtown business owners. I think the concerns of those who run the community garden overran this decision,” Mayor Brown said. “I think there’s lots of opportunities for community gardens in this town. I don’t think there’s any science behind any concern for urban gardening in that location.”

Also mentioned at various times throughout this process was the possibility for the terminal to be located at the Westdale Mall site at 286 Broadway. That space currently houses businesses such as The Beer Store, Bowling on Broadway and Frescho. Coun. Taylor put a quick stop to those hopes, saying that while that location was considered, the owners of the land were not interested in any proposal. 

Placing the terminal at the old Orangeville fairgrounds, somewhere between Walmart, Canadian Tire and Best Buy, was also suggested, but Mr. Jones indicated that location is too far north and would not be an ideal location.

“The issue with that location is it’s not as centrally located as the Broadway location. Right now, the transfer point on Fourth St. is at the very east end of town. Because we have some routes much longer than others, that results in delays in all routes as buses get back to the point at different times,” Mr. Jones said. “Locating it at the Walmart plaza would push it to the north end of town, which wouldn’t be ideal.”

He added, “A number of locations were considered over the years, but ultimately, once Westdale Plaza became a non-option, the Broadway location was considered the best spot.”

The feedback to this location hasn’t been all negative, says Coun. Lisa Post. 

“I’ve heard from a number of downtown merchants who were pleased with our decision, especially when it came to the accessibility of the transit system, and the ability to see a more robust transit system in Orangeville. A number of residents who reached out to me were also extremely pleased that this decision will make it easier to get to the downtown core and transfer buses,” Ms. Post said. 

While Coun. Peters stands behind his original decision that the Broadway location is the best spot for the transit terminal, he conceded that, if down the road it’s determined to have been a mistake, it won’t cost Council a great deal of money to make a change. 

“Because this is the least expensive and least intrusive option, if we find in several years’ time this was not the solution we thought it would be, there is potential to move it. I don’t think that will be the case, but this could be undone if experience tells us otherwise,” Coun. Peters said.

Council were all on the same page with one thing, however, and that’s ensuring the communication process between the town and those affected by municipal projects is improved moving forward. Mayor Brown expressed his hope that the municipality would be more formal with its correspondence in the future, by way of letter, something that was endorsed by Coun. Joe Andrews and Coun. Debbie Sherwood. 

In closing, Coun. Taylor reminded his fellow members that, should they decide to go back on their decision over the location of the transit transfer terminal, the entire project would be in jeopardy. 

“This project has been ongoing for years. This council has been able to get further than any other council in terms of a resolution to this. If this falls apart, there will not be a transfer station. There are no other options. Westdale Mall is not an option. Centre Street, I know, will not pass,” Coun. Taylor said.

After listening to the delegates and debating the issue for more than an hour, Council decided not to reverse its decision. As such, design work for the transit transfer terminal on Broadway is expected to begin later this year.

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