Town of Collingwood, Ontario, Canada

Collingwood Council has voted 5 to 4 to proceed with the planning of an updated five lane First Street. Collus Executive Director Ed Houghton presented the five lane plan to council one week earlier. At that time, debate around the table focused around the possibility of reducing the number of traffic lanes on FirstStreet rather than adding a lane.

The new plan for First Street will feature a middle turning lane, which Councilor Ian Chadwick feels is important in helping drivers turn into businesses along the busy street. Councilor Mike Edwards was against an idea put forth at the council table one week earlier that would have reduced the number of lanes on First Street from the existing four to three. Deputy Mayor Sandra Cooper said that she didn't want to see the town lose provincial funding that will help in the First Street reconstruction.

Collingwood Mayor Chris Carrier was disappointed with Council's approval of a five lane plan. "I am very disappointed with the decision last night (Monday night) and we'll see where it goes from here" Carrier said. Mayor Carrier compares the proposed five lane First Street to Bayfield Street in Barrie. "After many discussions, a basic five lane, ugly 'Bayfield Street' was promoted, a very anti-people friendly component to our community" Carrier said.

Mayor Carrier says 72 percent of the traffic First Street presently does not stop in Collingwood. Because of this fact, Mayor Carrier doesn't feel that Collingwood tax payers should pay for the majority of the construction work. "We are spending a significant amount of mony on a very ugly five lane road" Carrier said.

Mayor Carrier, speaking on Georgian Bay Today on 97.7 The Beach radio, said that he was hoping the current Environmental Assessment would expire. "I was quietly hoping that the province would not give us connecting link money for First Street so that we could go through a public consultation phase and an EA process so that we could do a better job now that we have learned more since we made the decision originally" Carrier added.

Mayor Carrier is also concerned that the proposed five lane plan for First Street is causing the Town of Collingwood to miss a valuable opportunity to make Collingwood's waterfront more accessible, particularly to pedestrian traffic. He used Toronto's consideration to tear down the Gardiner Expressway and Barrie's reconstruction of Lakeshore Road as two excellent examples of how to make lakeshore areas more accessible to people. "Right now it's separated from all of us by four lanes of traffic and we know that it is a significant barrier for people to cross" Carrier said.

Mayor Carrier said a three lane roadway could be much more beautiful and pedestrian friendly. He believes that the new highway 26 realignment and Poplar Sideroad upgrades will result in through traffic moving away from First Street, decreasing the need for five lanes.

Construction on First Street could start in the Spring of 2009.