Main Street reconstruction takes shape in Stouffville

The town is holding public information centres for the design of Main Street

Yorkregion.com
Sept. 13, 2022
Simon Martin

Main Street Stouffville has been slated for reconstruction for several years. It was originally supposed to be done in 2018 but It was pushed to 2019. In early 2019, the Main Street Reconstruction Working Group was formed. Then COVID-19 hit and plans stalled.

Now, in 2022, the town is hosting public information centres to introduce the draft design for Main Street Reconstruction between Albert Street and Park Drive. The town hosted a meeting Sept. 6 showing preliminary designs for Main Street searching for feedback.

There are several new features in the design including gateway and banner sign at both entries to downtown, mountable curbs with removable bollards to allow for temporary patios in parking spaces, and pedestrian crossover at Lloyd Street.

The new streetscape would have 17 fewer parking spaces on Main Street, with 12 fewer spaces on the north side and five fewer spaces on the south side. The total amount of parking spaces between Albert and park street would be 83 spaces.

The consultant said that the reasons for less parking include curb extensions, bump-outs and bus manoeuvring room.

Stouffville resident Aidan Lucas was surprised the new design didn’t include anything for cyclists. “There are cyclists that use Main Street all the time right now and this number is only increasing. Forcing them to bike in mixed traffic is not only dangerous but also a huge missed opportunity for this once-in-a-lifetime rebuild,” he said. “ Main Street is connected to numerous trails. Right now the whole Main Street seems dedicated to cars and only cars.”

He wasn’t the only resident at the meeting hoping for more cycling infrastructure. “I would like to see the street bike-friendly,” Christina Vincent said.

Town staff said the reason for no dedicated bike lane in the current design is the lack of space, with parking on both the north and south side of the road.

Mike Han, owner of For The Love of Jo coffee shop, isn’t looking forward to when the street will be torn up. “Everybody is losing money after the pandemic and then they are closing Main Street again. Maybe nobody surviving in here,” he said. “In this time the interest rates are going up and it’s after the pandemic.”

Han first heard rumours of Main Street work several years ago but said he was told at the time the town didn’t have the money to take on the work. He said communication with business owners about the project hasn’t been very good.

Mario D'Addese runs Fame Men’s Hairstylist next to the GO station and chuckled when Main Street reconstruction was mentioned. “Do you know how long they have been doing this study?,” he said.

While D’Addese said the job is necessary to get done he knows it will be disruptive and affect everybody.

“It would affect people next door. It affects people living upstairs, it affects everybody. In order to alleviate the disruption the job has to be done quick,” he said.

The water main originally installed in the 1950s needs to be replaced on Main Street, as well as a sanitary sewer installed. There are two segments of Main Street remaining to be reconstructed: the Albert Street to Park Drive section, which is the focus of the public meeting, and the stretch from Albert Street to Ninth Line.

The first phase of the Main Street reconstruction project, from Stouffer Street to Tenth Line, was reconstructed in 2016. The second phase, from Park Drive to Stouffer, was done in 2017.