Two retired professionals have come out publicly to state that Oshawa should have taken control of the timing of city projects by external agencies that are creating chaos on its roads (see below).
“The City of Oshawa needs to be the authority to keep track of and coordinate the timing of all projects within the city, not leaving it to the random acts of outside agencies like Metrolinx and the Ministry of Transportation [MTO]. Currently, the city is passive because councillors say, ‘It’s the province, what can we do?’” said Joell Vanderwagen, a retired transportation planner.
Another non-Oshawa agency doing road projects in the city is the Region of Durham.
“There needs to be better coordination of construction work in Durham Region,” said Jim McEwen, a retired engineer. “When I was municipal engineer on a consulting basis, we held meetings with all levels of government each January to discuss and coordinate upcoming projects! Whatever happened to these key meetings?”
Poor Coordination
McEwen said Simcoe Street and Park Road are regional roads and senior Durham officials should have been paying more attention to coordination of projects in his opinion. “I wonder what senior Durham officials say about this poor coordination!” asked the retired engineer.
He said MTO only understands highways and they have little knowledge of municipal arterial and local roads. MTO is working on expanding Highway 401 in a part of Oshawa to 10 lanes.
In a letter to the mayor and members of council, Vanderwagen said: “I suggest that municipal governments in Ontario need to collaborate, through AMO [Association of Municipalities of Ontario], to establish their authority over the timing and planning of projects in their jurisdiction, in order to protect their residents.”
Personal Examples
She pointed out that this is not an abstract policy issue. “People need to get to work, school, doctor’s appointments, shopping. They cannot have their lives upended by induced traffic congestion due to the uncoordinated actions of different outside agencies.
Vanderwagen said she is “on the warpath” about the closure of Park Road South, because that is her main access route to the city north of the 401. “I live in south Oshawa. I drive to destinations like the Oshawa Mall and the Lakeridge Health Centre. Now I will have to travel further and deal with increased congestion on Stevenson and Ritson.”
She said her husband takes the 403 bus that serves Oshawa south of the 401, taking people via Park Road South to the transit centre at the Oshawa Mall.
“It is a terrible inefficiency to the transit system and riders to have to improvise lengthy, complicated diversions while managing increased congestion,” said the retired transportation planner.
Two-Year Closure of Simcoe Street
She pointed out that there is already the two-year closure of Simcoe Street due to Metrolinx’s reconstruction of the bridge there.
“This is bizarre because Metrolinx has made no move to extend the GO Train one inch forward at the Oshawa station. To carry out the current plan, they will first need to build a bridge over the 401! Why are they jumping way ahead to shut down Simcoe?”
Municipalities need to collaborate to assert their authority over what happens in their communities, said the retired transportation planner.
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