Tori Sutton
Staff Reporter
The preferred route for Highway 7/8 upgrades has attracted plenty of interest with dozens of people coming out to the public information centre (PIC) hosted by the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) last Tuesday, July 21 at the Festival Inn.
MTO officials were on hand to answer questions and help the public understand the options for highway expansion, most of which utilize existing routes.
“We’ve had a fairly good reception to the preferred corridor,” said MTO project manager Charles Organ, acknowledging there are still concerns from stakeholders in various areas.
“Consultation is an important part of this whole process and we’re hoping to discuss those concerns today.”
Organ said all feedback is considered and evaluated on its merits, and that planning staff remain open minded.
The Ministry has scrapped its plans for a Stratford bypass – a route protested by local farmers last December – instead opting to expand the existing highway from west of New Hamburg to east of Stratford. Four different options to flow traffic from Highway 7/8 to Lorne Avenue have also been outlined.
Most of the concerns brought forth at the meeting came from residents of Shakespeare. The preferred route calls for the highway to be expanded to four to five lanes through the hamlet, which would require several buildings to be razed or relocated.
“I think it’s crazy, it doesn’t make any sense to me,” said Shakespeare resident Dave Cole, who attended the PIC with his wife Jo-Anne. “It’s just nuts.”
Along with being worried about preserving the homes and businesses that line the highway, the Coles also have safety concerns. About 250 children attend Sprucedale public school and many of them cross the highway to get to school.
The Coles, who have lived in Shakespeare for 25 years, suggest upgrades to Perth Line 33 (Pork Road) would be the most appropriate route.
Forest Road resident Wilma McCaig agrees Line 33 would be the best route, to spare not only Shakespeare but the Fryfogel Tavern as well.
“I don’t like any of it, I think it’s very narrow-minded and not regarding history at all,” McCaig said, of the preferred route. “I’m not in favour of any of it.”
The MTO has presented four options for connection between Highway 7/8 and Lorne Avenue, nearly all of which cross through her family’s land – the Reaney homestead – which has frontage on Line 33. One route slices through the neighbour’s farmland, she said.
Stratford-Perth Museum curator Linda Carter – who is also a member of the Perth County Historical Foundation – is also concerned about the preferred route’s impact on local heritage.
She noted the Historical Foundation has been working to save the Fryfogel Tavern – constructed just east of Shakespeare in 1845 by Sebastian Fryfogel – since the 1960s.
“This is just a shock that this proposal is all of a sudden on the table,” Carter said, after reviewing the plans. “There are no words.”
Fryfogel Tavern is designated under the Ontario Heritage Trust, though Carter is unsure if that designation would offer the building any protection. She said this is the first time the provincial heritage agency has been faced with this type of situation.
She also is concerned with road widening through Shakespeare, noting the hamlet has great value as a tourist destination.
But not all Shakespeare residents want to maintain the status quo. Charlie Chahal and his wife Sandy, who own Shakespeare Esso and Variety, are welcoming a widened road with open arms.
“There will be more business and more improvements and more people will come,” said Charlie, who built the station five years ago and employs four people from the hamlet.
A bypass around Shakespeare would have a negative impact on their business, whereas the owners say an expanded highway would result in infrastructure improvements.
“I’m paying $8,000 in property tax a year for my business, we don’t have a sewer system, we don’t have a water system, we have our own well,” Sandy said.
“If there is a highway I will get sidewalks, I will get more people who need fuel, more people will walk to my business. If they do a bypass, nobody is going to come to our town.”
A second PIC was held on Wednesday, July 22 at the Wilmot Recreation Complex in New Hamburg and a third meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 11 at the Optimist Hall in Shakespeare. The plans can be viewed online at www.7and8corridorstudy.ca.
Officials expect the next round of recommendations to be brought forward this fall after feedback from this round of public consultations is reviewed.
