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THE GUELPH-HANLON AWARENESS GROUP
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THE GUELPH-HANLON AWARENESS GROUP
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Presentations-Mar. 7 & Jan. 14
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Preparation for upcoming MTO workshop: all workshop participants had a 5lb "briefing package" couriered to their homes exactly one week before the start of the MTO workshops on May 1. We were invited to examine them in preparation for the workshops. Click here to read one journalist's take of the documents. Update on Activities Since the meeting with City Council on January 14, many citizens have voiced their concerns over the Hanlon upgrades to City Council the MTO and Liz Sandals. The Hanlon Petition garnered close to 2100 signatures which were sent to the MTO. Copies are being supplied to Liz Sandals and City Council as well. MTO Workshop Since the Special Council Meeting on January 14, City staff and MTO have been collaborating in organizing a facilitated workshop to collectively address the issues that have been raised by area residents and other interested citizens in regard to the proposed improvements for the Hanlon Expressway. A Citizens Liaison Group has been formed to participate in the Workshop. MTO’s technical team, City staff and Agency representatives (from GRCA, Police Services, Emergency Services etc.) will be present. The Workshop will be facilitated by Donna Hinde, a Planning consultant with experience in facilitating public consultation in transportation projects. Members of the Citizens Liaison Group will be expected to collaborate with other participants in small groups with members of the technical team. Meeting with Gord Miller Gordon Miller agreed to meet with representatives of the Guelph Hanlon Coalition following OPIRG's March 30th conference at the University of Guelph's Arboretum Centre where he was a guest panelist, having been a founding member of the organization and being the province's Environmental Commissioner. Miller did not spend a lot of time addressing specific environmental concerns of the group, noting that while such environmental concerns both existed and were important, they would not convince the province. Regarding the upcoming MTO/City Hanlon workshops, he made some strong recommendations: - that a comprehensive community process such as the workshop series being planned, not be limited to the Ministry of Transport, but that representatives from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing and the Ministry of Public Infrastructure and Renewal be invited to speak to implications of growth and transportation needs on a broader scale. - that a discussion of highway transportation should not take place in isolation from the transportation plan for the region - and alternatives within that plan such as transit and rail options remain at the forefront as this community's priorities. We did mention that the city and the province appeared to have exclusive plans regarding the Hanlon and that to date there hadn't been evidence of any collaboration. The Ministry of Transportation builds highways, he said. That's what they do. The engineers they hire are told to design a highway within parameters, and, Miller said, they do a very good job of it. Our thinking is currently built around cars, he warned. It is not a local issue, but one that must be addressed in cooperation with our neighbours. If Guelph says we do not want this highway, it will be meaningless. But if Guelph, Waterloo, and Wellington region work together and say, it is not a highway we want, but alternative modes of transportation, then we can begin to make headway. The important aspect is the cooperation between the regions. We must find like-minded groups inside Waterloo region to work with us, as we are only strong enough together. Fighting the car culture is not easy. If these highways are built, Miller said, we can forget about such projects as a light rail transit system. The investment will be in the highways and the expansion thereof. The primary message for us to get out of what he had to say is that we must work with other affected regions and work on changing the highway-based thinking of our region and our government. We won't stop the upgrade of the Hanlon by fighting over a specific culvert, but we might be able to by addressing macro issues affecting the whole region.
History of the Hanlon The Hanlon Parkway was conceived almost 40 years ago at a time when Guelph's population was about 55,000. At that time most of us still believed in unlimited growth and were unaware of the profound impact our planning decisions had on the environment. In 1969, the Ministry completed a Functional Planning Study of the Hanlon Expressway, from Clair Road northerly to Woodlawn Road. This study identified that the Expressway would serve as a major north-south link connecting Highway 401 to Highway 7. Owned by the Province, the Hanlon was earmarked to become an expressway, but few restrains were placed on the development of the periphery.
The Hanlon Today Today the Hanlon, located in a residential area, serves mostly local traffic. There have been many complaints from drivers due to wait times at traffic lights. The existing traffic lights cannot be synchronize; new traffic lights would have to be installed. The costs of traffic signal management compared to upgrading a highway are trivial. According to a 2005 survey by traffic engineers, ideal management of traffic lights could cut delays by 15-20 percent, reduce travel time by up to 25 percent, cut emissions by up to 22 percent, and reduce gas consumption by up to 10 percent The Ministry of Transportation Ontario plans to upgrade the Hanlon to a 400 series highway, built for speeds of 100-120 km/hour posted speed, we all know it will be exceeded. Eventually the Hanlon will be connected to the proposed New Highway 7 and Highway 6. These connections have the potential to create a dramatic increase in traffic, especially trucks. The estimate is for 50,000 + per day.
The Big Picture "Without a change in the car-based culture, we are going to see a million more cars trying to use the roads of The Greater Golden Horseshoe, and these will spawn more congestion, more pollution, and the unceasing demand for more roads, which will consume even more of the limited green space on this crowded landscape." Gordon Miller, Environmental Commissioner from his annual report, 2006-2007, Reconciling our Priorities, Dec 4, 2007
The Preferred Plan Problems with the Preferred Plan Negative impact on our health, safety, and quality of life The upgrades to the Hanlon Expressway will impact negatively on the health, safety, and quality of life of the community of Guelph. Read more What you can do
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