HUNTSVILLE,ON- More voices are getting added to the push for changes on Highway 11.
Earlier this week, Huntsville council voted without opposition on a motion that urged the province to move forward on safety improvements along the cottage country route.
The motion was written as follows:
WHEREAS: Highway 11 is the primary gateway to Ontario’s north, and runs through many Muskoka communities;
AND WHEREAS: there have been over 950 road accidents along Highway 11 in thelast 10 years, between Stephenson Road 1 and Highway 60;
AND WHEREAS: there are seven level crossings along this portion of Highway 11 – all within the Town of Huntsville, and the District Municipality of Muskoka – which have contributed to the number of accidents and close calls that many Muskoka families and visitors to our community have experienced;
AND WHEREAS: the Ministry of Transportation has: • studied the road safety conditions along the route over a decade ago; • proposed closing these at-grade intersections and replacing them with safer interchanges in two locations and bridges in others, dramatically improving road safety in our community; and, • conducted public meetings and completed a Class Environmental Assessment on the preferred locations of these new interchanges; and, • had its plans for this stretch of Highway 11 approved by Order-in-Council of the Provincial Government;
AND WHEREAS: this work by the Ministry of Transportation was completed almost ten years ago, the Government of Ontario has not taken any other action to-date to close and replace these dangerous at-grade intersections;
AND WHEREAS: safer Highway 11 Muskoka, a grassroots community group, has launched a petition with the support of several hundred residents and cottage associations calling on the new provincial government to finally move forward by funding this infrastructure project and including it in the 2020 Budget;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT: the Town of Huntsville urges the Government of Ontario to move forward with these road safety improvements along Highway 11 by including them in the Ontario 2020 Budget, and the Ministry of Transportation’s Five-Year Plan for infrastructure improvements;
AND FURTHER THAT: this resolution of Council be communicated to the Premier, Minister of Transportation, the MPP for Parry Sound-Muskoka, and Safer Highway 11 Muskoka.
In an emailed statement, Safer Highway 11 spokesperson Kevin Powers re-stated the group’s finding of more than 950 accidents along Highway 11 between Bracebridge and Huntsville in the last 10 years.
“Yesterday’s resolution builds on the efforts by Safer Highway 11 Muskoka, a grassroots community group, that has launched a petition with the support of several hundred residents and cottage associations calling on the provincial government to fund these improvements,” said Powers.
He indicated a similar motion will be going to council in Bracebridge on September 24th.