King Township rejects Metrolinx’s request to close Toll Road crossing

The request from Metrolinx came as surprise to residents

Yorkregion.com
January 9, 2019
Sheila Wang

The only railway crossing at Toll Road gets to stay, at least for now.

King Township council recently voted unanimously to reject a staff report that recommends permanently removing a railway crossing at Toll Road.

Township staff prepared the report based on a request made by Metrolinx that proposes to permanently close the level crossing which connects Toll Road and Yonge Street (Highway 11) on Jan. 10.

In the staff report, the crossing is referred to as “an ongoing safety, maintenance, and fee burden to the township.” It noted that King is required to pay over $4,000 annually for the railway crossing to Metrolinx for their share of maintenance.

Council decided to keep the level crossing open while exploring other options in order to address the issues brought up by Metrolinx.

Metrolinx said in a letter the existing grades of the roadway are not in line with Transport Canada guidelines and pointed out the safety concerns, as low clearance loads tend to access the crossing.

“That crossing has been there for literally decades, like more than 40 years, and there has never been a problem until now,” said Ward 6 Coun. Avia Eek, who has been vocal about her opposition of removal of the crossing.

The 100-foot level crossing provides a bypass for those who are travelling out of Bradford to avoid the congestion on Yonge Street before getting on Bathurst Street, Eek said.

Gradually, the two-kilometre gravel road has become a well-travelled route which now sees more than 600 vehicles come and go on a daily basis.

But it has not always been like this.

Toll Road has only seen more traffic in recent years, Eek said, after the Queensville Sideroad interchange on Highway 404 opened up and the road improvements on Yonge Street and Bathurst Street were completed.

Before then, there were 20 cars at most running on Toll Road every day.

If the crossing is closed, Toll Road would become a “dead-end” road.

Eek said she was especially concerned about the impact on those who live and work on Toll Road. There are currently four houses, two farms and one business located in the Toll Road area.

“It cuts us off because all the houses are on that end of the road,” said Frank Scharnhorst, who has lived in one of the four houses on Toll Road for 32 years.

The value of their properties might be affected if they lost the easy access to Yonge Street, he added.

Meanwhile, there would be no easy way in for the area business, the South Simcoe CY Marina, which is the only marina in King Township.

“I know they’re spending a lot of money refurbishing it and making it into a really, really nice marina. If that crossing is closed, that’s going to restrict or reduce the amount of people that will be going to the marina,” Eek said.

Both Eek and Scharnhorst acknowledged there was an incident that took place at the crossing years back when a truck with a lower trailer hauling an excavator got hung up on the tracks.

"The crossing is fine for every other bit of traffic," Scharnhorst argued.

Metrolinx's safety assessment, on the other hand, shows there has been more than one incident at the crossing.

Metrolinx has recently reviewed a total of 185 level crossings on the GO Transit network in order to ensure continued safety operations as road and rail traffic is expected to increase, according to Amanda Ferguson, a spokesperson for Metrolinx.

“There have been a number of safety incidents that have occurred at the crossing. Most recently, this crossing has been subject to trailers and large loads getting stuck and scraping the rail surface as they pass the crossing,” Ferguson said.

As a recent example, she cited the truck and trailer that got lodged on the tracks on July 27, 2018 blocking both the roadway and railway.

However, the request to remove the crossing came as a surprise to Toll Road residents like Scharnhorst who said there had been no public consultation in advance.

“If they put signage up that no trucks with low decks are allowed to cross there, that would be fine,” Scharnhorst said.

He also proposed another option at the council meeting to reopen the crossing at Kalver Street -- which was closed a few years ago -- if the current one is to be removed.

Council plans to further consult with Metrolinx on the matter to reach a solution.

“Metrolinx will continue to work in partnership with municipal and private counterparts to seek input and to manage impacts,” Ferguson said.