By John Francis,
Bruce Peninsula Press
The Bruce County Master Transportation Plan was released in August. It is available online (just Google Bruce County Transportation Plan).
Don’t let the page count (540) scare you off — 90% of that is just appendices.
There are many interesting things in this report. But from an MNBP perspective, the most interesting thing is what’s not in the report: us.
Bruce County has 680 km of County Roads and 150 km of County-maintained trails. The County Road system extends up to Lion’s Head; the County trails are all south of the checkerboard.
The public consultation phases of the transportation study were held in September of 2020 and May of 2021. The responses to the first phase were “28 survey/comment sheets, 4 direct emails and a few telephone calls”. The second phase generated “six comment sheets and 11 direct emails”.
That’s 49 responses out of a population of 68,500. I don’t know whether that’s an indication of an inadequate consultation system or our lack of engagement as citizens. But it certainly casts a shadow on the credibility of the consultation.
How would they do better? I think this is a conversation that needs to happen.
When they talk about 50% of the respondents favoured so-and-so, whereas only 17% favoured the alternative — we’re talking 25 out of 68,500 as opposed to 8 out of 68,500. It’s a rounding error.
A couple of MNBP issues do find their way into the report. The need for an alternative to Hwy 6 is mentioned, which (although not mentioned specifically) pertains mainly to the stretch from Tobermory to Dyers Bay Road. The need for transit services between Wiarton and Tobermory is also mentioned as a concern.
There is a brief discussion of the West Road, with a conclusion that the middle section (approximately Howdenvale to Spry) has a very low traffic volume (235 to 335 vehicles per day in the busiest season) and does not need increased capacity.
The possibility of transit from Wiarton to Tobermory is mentioned but not discussed. Creating an improved business climate for taxis and ride-sharing companies is discussed.
The Canadian Automobile Association (CAA) estimates the cost of running a motor vehicle in Ontario at $9,500 per year. (Several business owners have recently told me that it is very difficult to find entry-level employees because it is very limiting to live in MNBP without a car.)
The report discusses the need to make accommodation for bicycles on County Roads. It mentions County Road 9 from Lion’s Head to Wiarton as a priority, but fails to mention Ferndale Road (see note above about not enough public consultation…)
Four alternative strategies are proposed to improve things going forward, but none of these includes anything to increase the amount of county infrastructure in MNBP so that it reflects MNBP’s tax contributions to the county budget.
Overall, an awful lot of consultant expense and effort to get 49 people’s opinions. It’s like an elephant balancing on a teacup…
