MTO Officials came to the Bruce County Agriculture, Tourism, and Planning (ATP) meeting in Walkerton recently to deliver information on proposed guidelines regarding provincial highways that go through towns and cities in Ontario.
One proposal would see a permit required for land uses where the building is situated less than 400 metres from a Kings highway — up from 85 metres.
High traffic areas like commercial development would see the distance increase from 365 metres to at least 800 metres from the highway.
MTOs Senior Project Manager Ken Teasdale says the purpose of the guidelines is to maintain a good flow of traffic on the highways.
With much of the provincial highways in Bruce County running into urban areas like Port Elgin and Walkerton, county officials are worried that the guidelines will put planning decisions in the hands of the MTO.
Teasdale says when they look at traffic studies or development plans they want to ensure the safety of the intersection.
Teasdale says they consulted with groups such as the Rural Ontario Municipal Association and have garnered support from them.
He says most of them have said they want to get as much truck traffic away from the urban centres.
County Councillor and Kincardine Mayor Larry Kraemer brought up his Municipalitys request in having the MTO reduce the speed limit on Highway 21 between Kincardine Avenue and Broadway Street from 80 kilometres an hour to 60.
There has been rapid development in that area and as a result more traffic coming in.
Since the section is not a connecting link, the Municipality has no control of setting the speed limit.
Teasdale says the MTO has been allowing public road access to open up through their Access Control Policy to address the development pressures in Kincardine.
He says there is already a by-pass established and they will not allow for another by-pass to the current one.
Teasdale says they came to the meeting to clarify how the guidelines work from both a rural and urban perspective.
He says they want to set up the policy to work with each municipality around their own urban boundary and not make it more difficult as it is.
Both the County and MTO will continue to discuss about the guidelines in an effort to avoid any future dilemmas.
