By John Francis
Every now and again I go through old issues of this newspaper to remind me of what the issues have been over the years. Ten years ago, for example, Bruce County was promising to improve the West Road. Bruce County Roads made a presentation to MNBP (Municipality of Northern Bruce Peninsula) Council on the subject and also held a public meeting in Lion’s Head.
There were three stories about it in the Labour Day issue of the BPP (2015 #13).
From my coverage of the August 10, 2015 presentation to Council:
Bruce County Highways Engineer Brian Knox “…explained that the West Road became a County Road in 2005 as the County implemented the recommendations of a two-year comprehensive study of its roads. In 2010 it was decided to put the West Road improvement on the County Official Plan. This decision was appealed to the Ontario Municipal Board. The OMB officer made three recommendations…”
Knox told Council that the most significant of the OMB’s recommendations stated that the road allowance should be made only as wide as it absolutely needed to be.
Responding to questions from then-Councillors Tom Boyle and Rob Rouse, Knox explained that Bruce County had a general policy that County Roads should operate on a 30-metre road allowance, but that this is not a hard-and-fast rule. The section of the East Road from Barrow Bay to Lion’s Head, for example, is entirely within a 20-metre road allowance.
From my coverage of the August 26, 2015 Public Meeting:
“About 200 people came out to an information session about the proposed improvements to the West Road. The presenter was Brian Knox, Bruce County’s Highway Engineer.
It quickly became clear that most people in attendance were not concerned with the West Road, but rather with wind turbines. Rumour has it that the whole purpose of the improvement is to provide a 30 metre access road to get huge wind turbine components onto the peninsula and a transmission corridor to get the resulting electricity off the peninsula.
This caught County Engineer Brian Knox by surprise — he assured the audience that he had received no overtures or queries from wind turbine companies.
Many people were concerned about the language in the documentation presented by the County. The prescribed road allowance width of 30 metres would involve buying or expropriating a lot of land and would also provide enough room for a hydro transmission line. “We do not want wind turbines and you’re working right into their hands,” accused one man, seething with anger.”
Knox agreed that there was no reason most of the road couldn’t be done within a 20 metre road allowance but many in the audience remained angry.
After that public meeting, I got chatting with Councillor Boyle. I wrote about this in my Opinion Page piece:
Councillor Boyle “…gave me a bit of background to the current situation. Years ago, he explained, Bruce County agreed to take on responsibility for some roads in Northern Bruce Peninsula, mainly the West Road and Whippoorwill Shore Road. Boyle feels this was a sort of payback for the fact that there are no County Roads at all in the former Lindsay and St Edmunds Townships. Even though the newly assumed roads are in Eastnor, it still reduces the tax burden on everybody in MNBP.
In 2011, Bruce County came up with the funds to pave the West Road.
Then, he continued, a bunch of people from South Bruce Peninsula kicked up a stink and appealed the project to the Ontario Municipal Board. But the money had to be spent in a timely fashion. So where did they spend it? he asked. Paving the shoulders from Sauble to Oliphant! In South Bruce Peninsula! South Bruce Peninsula kicked up a stink and all of the money got spent there anyway. Boyle shook his head in frustration.
Then he introduced me to Arran Elderslie Mayor Paul Eagleson, who attended the meeting as Chairman of the County Highways Committee.
Boyle suggested to Eagleson that the dirt section of the West Road that lies in MNBP should be treated as a separate section and paved immediately. The objections are all concerned with the dirt sections in South Bruce Peninsula, so let’s separate the NBP section and fix it.
Mayor Eagleson agreed that the County would very much like to pave that road as they are not equipped to maintain gravel roads. He also agreed that there is no need for a hundred foot road, that the issues are mainly about visibility and curves and would be easy to fix, especially at the north end. He agreed the split makes good sense.
Councillor Boyle explained why he feels this project is urgent: there are more and more people on bicycles and motorcycles who come up the shore road to Pike Bay but then where do they go? There is no way to cycle from Sutter Road to Stokes Bay without going out to Highway 6.”
I remember that Councillor Boyle also told me that MNBP would probably have paved the road long ago if Bruce County hadn’t taken it over.
Ten years after that meeting — and fully 20 years after Bruce County’s initial promise to pave the West Road — we still have a narrow, twisty dirt road that is a nightmare for cyclists and not a whole lot better for cars.
Our government inaction in action!
