Yonge Street from Davis Drive to Green Lane in Newmarket going to 6 lanes

Resident applauds project, but worries about construction woes

Yorkregion.com
September 3, 2020
Lisa Queen

Traffic is often so congested on Yonge Street between Davis Drive and Green Lane that Newmarket father Gord McCallum schedules shopping trips and other outings to avoid peak times.

Weekends are the worst, although evening rush hours aren’t much better, he said.

He’s looking forward to the day when the road is redeveloped, although he has concerns about living through the construction.

Beginning this fall, the Region of York will begin a multi-year, $53-million redevelopment of the 2.2-kilometre stretch of Yonge.

Utility work will begin this fall, with road construction scheduled to start in late 2022 or early 2023. Work will be completed in stages to help alleviate impacts to drivers and pedestrians, according to David Atkins, the region’s manager of capital planning and delivery in transportation services.

The project will see Yonge widened to six lanes from four, including two high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes, five upgraded traffic signals installed for enhanced accessibility, new traffic signals put in for better access into businesses, the sidewalks widened to include bicycle paths on each side of Yonge, new street lighting along Yonge installed, a centre median along Yonge built to accommodate future transit options and trees and other greenery planted.

“At this point, there is no funded Viva Rapidway construction planned for this portion of Yonge Street,” Atkins said in an email.

“However, the technical infrastructure will be in place for when population and growth warrants it. “

McCallum is part of a group of residents and business owners participating in workshops aimed at giving the region feedback about the project.

While he’s in favour of the redevelopment, he admits he has concerns about construction, especially as he remembers traffic headaches during the reconstruction of Davis Drive a few years ago.

McCallum anticipates two major concerns during the Yonge construction.

The first is the aggravation of seeing the road narrowed to one lane each way while there appears to be no construction taking place.

“Do a better job at organizing your time, whether it’s a larger crew that’s able to work longer shifts or whatever that may be,” he said.

“But when you have single-lane traffic and you’re stopping the flow in Newmarket and there’s absolutely nothing going on on-site, that really puts a sour taste in people’s minds.”

McCallum, who lives on Trailhead Avenue southwest of Yonge and Bonshaw Avenue, is even more concerned about traffic cutting and speeding through his neighbourhood.

“People are going to do whatever they can to get where they want to go. So, they’re going to start diverting through the subdivisions and that’s really one of the biggest issues,” he said.

McCallum has safety concerns for his children, 14-year-old Teaghan and 13-year-old Nolan, and other young families in the community.

Coun. Christina Bisanz, who represents neighbourhoods in the area, said the project will benefit the community in the long run through better functionality, a more modern streetscape and a safe and active corridor for cycling and walking, but she agrees residents already suffering from "construction fatigue" are worried about increased traffic congestion, noise and disruption during construction.

She's calling on the region use measures such as signs and bollards to lessen the impact on residential streets.

Jamal Ahmed, the project manager, understands the concerns but he said the redevelopment of Yonge is needed to modernize the road and to accommodate growth.

The section of Yonge is one of the busiest traffic corridors in the region, he told Newmarket councillors at a committee meeting Aug. 24.

The road carries 43,000 vehicles a day, which will grow to 65,000 daily when reconstruction is finished, Ahmed said.

“This project will have a large and lasting impact on the community,” he said.

Because Newmarket is an employment and shopping hub, it attracts visitors from other communities, putting additional numbers of commuters on the roads, Mayor John Taylor said.

That includes significant growth coming to East Gwillimbury just north of the town, Coun. Tom Vegh added.