Bolton Transportation Master Plan - Project uncertainty

NRU
Oct. 7, 2015
By Geordie Gordon

Caledon is taking a proactive approach with its new transportation master plan in an eff ort to deal with future traffic flows as it waits for the province to deliver major infrastructure projects. In the absence of a provincial decision, the new plan anticipates what impacts the GTA West Corridor and the Bolton GO station will have on transportation and land development in the area.

The Bolton Transportation Master Plan, approved by Peel Region September 24, was formulated with the assumption that an interchange with the GTA West Corridor would occur somewhere along Coleraine Drive, but it doesn’t include an exact location for the future 400-series highway.

Caledon infrastructure planning and design principal planner Eric Chan says it is still too early to plan for the exact location of the interchange, but the region has an idea of where it will be.

“We don’t tell MTO about the exact location [of the interchange], because it is subject to environmental concerns, so we don’t specifically look at exactly where it could be, somewhere between north of Mayfield, south of Healy Road, so it is a very broad area. [The GTA West Corridor] is a longer term vision, so the [Bolton Transportation Master Plan] didn’t [include] the exact location,” he told NRU.

MTO communications coordinator Astrid Poei said in an email to NRU that the province is working with municipalities to determine where the GTA West interchanges might be located.

“The project team is exploring the feasibility of an interchange and other types of connections to Coleraine Drive in consultation with local municipalities.”

But Caledon policy and sustainability manager Haiqing Xu would like greater certainty when it comes to the province delivering infrastructure.

“There are two things that we are looking at in the bigger picture, the GTA West is surely one of them. The other is GO rail service to Bolton, and that was identified by the Metrolinx regional transportation plan. It is supposed to be delivered by 2031, but for some reason, probably financial, at the provincial level, they are talking about delaying it, and we are very concerned about this,” Xu told NRU.

“The Bolton transportation plan is highly dependent on the province to deliver [GTA West Corridor and Bolton GO], and deliver them on time. More than that, on the land use side, we have planned a community of 10,000 people just north of King Street and west of the CP railway track, and that is the location of the future GO station, identified by Metrolinx. We are planning what the province calls a transit supportive community, and now [it is] talking about delaying it, and I’m really worried about it.

Chan agrees that the need for the Bolton GO station is pressing. “We think that the urgency is there, we have proven there is enough ridership. Bolton itself is growing, also the northern communities are growing, so the need for that [GO station] is urgent,” he said.

As for the GTA west, Xu says the planning process is long overdue.

“If you look at the GTA west planning process, [the province] only [does] it when the area is being developed, and it’s causing real problems with land use planning in the area ... the GTA West planning should have been done 10-15 years ago,” he said.

Despite not knowing the exact route of the GTA West Corridor, Peel Region is still developing the road network around Bolton with the corridor in mind, and is letting the province know what its preferred option is.

“Which road [the GTA West] is going to intersect with is a major finding that we put forward for MTO’s considerations,” Chan said. “Having the [recently opened] Emil Kolb Parkway will divert people from Highway 50 and onto Coleraine Drive. It will also have a bearing on the way the GTA West could connect.”

Poei said that the Bolton Transportation Master Plan may have an influence on the province’s decisions for the GTA West corridor.

“Compatibility with municipal plans is being considered in the evaluation of the routes and interchange locations,” she said. “The [GTA West] project team does take the Bolton TMP study into consideration.”

Meanwhile, the conversation between Caledon and the province regarding the location of the interchange continues.

“We have been invited to a meeting with MTO to talk about interchange locations; the interchange location is very critical,” said Xu.

The province’s preferred route and interchange locations for the GTA West Corridor will be presented at a Public Information Centre tentatively scheduled for early December.