Pickering business owners adamant in opposition to median
Thu May 08, 2008
By: By Reka Szekely
PICKERING -- About 30 Pickering business owners and residents on Tuesday night told Regional officials they did not want a raised median on Brock Road between Hwy. 401 and Bayly Street. Region staff met with the group at the local legion, near the disputed stretch of road, at an event organized by Pickering councillors Doug Dickerson and Bill McLean. The two councillors presented alternatives, including widening the road to six lanes, as the Region plans to, but forgoing the median and installing a traffic light at Plummer Street, or widening the road to five lanes with a centre turning lane. "What is not acceptable is a median down the middle of Brock Road to divide the community in half," said Coun. McLean. The business owners agreed with their councillors, with cries of "no median" popping up at several points during the meeting. "I own a gym. It's not a big gym, but I've been there five years ... not one person has mentioned to me a median would solve the problem," said Excel Fitness Club owner Bill Cheung. Susan Siopis, the Region's director, transportation and field services, said staff would document the group's opinion and the alternatives to the median and present it to the works committee in a June report. "To be frank with you, we will also talk about the pros and cons of that proposal," she said, also pointing out a recent presentation to Durham's works committee on the project was for information only since it had already been approved. Many of the people at the meeting, including Coun. Dickerson, agreed the congestion issues on the road wouldn't be addressed until the Province widened the bridge over Hwy. 401. "If you're not going to do the bridge, this is stupid," said Peter Landsman, owner of The Baby's Room. Mr. Landsman described a bad accident he witnessed near the highway where a truck ended up on top of a car. He said similar accidents could occur if trucks couldn't turn as a result of the median. But, safety issues are one of the lynch pins of the staff position. The median would mean drivers would have to turn right when entering and exiting Brock Road and that would reduce the potential for collisions, they say. Of the 87 collisions along the stretch on Brock Road in the past six years, there were 18 between Bayly Street and Plummer Street, 31 at Plummer and 38 between Plummer and the 401. Another concern for the Region is capacity. The road currently carries 45,000 vehicles per day, but may carry up to 65,000 in 20 years if traffic volume continues to increase at the same rate. Coun. Dickerson thinks the five-lane solution with a turning lane will address the issue. "What I'm proposing will work, will satisfy the demand, until the decisions are made by the Province on the Brock Road Bridge," he said. Ms. Siopis disagreed. "It doesn't add any capacity to the road other than getting the turning car out of the way." While several business owners questioned the $4-to-$5 million price tag for the project, Ms. Siopis said the figure was for the whole project and included the cost of widening the road, moving curbs and acquiring property. Region staff entered the meeting hoping the business owners would support a compromise, installing a median, but adding a traffic light at Plummer Street and a break in the median. And although everyone seemed to be in favour of the traffic light, they insisted they didn't want the median. "I think the real story tonight was how united the community was in respect to this. It's unanimous among business owners that this will devastate their business," said Coun. McLean. However, Ms. Siopis said not everyone who had an interest in the issue was represented at the meeting, including the thousands of commuters who use the road, and the Region has to consider how its whole road network functions, not simply one section of it. "Is this planning by consensus? No. Would we want to plan by consensus? No."