Improving traffic flow along the Hwy. 11-17 corridor.

The Ministry of Transportation (MTO) is dusting off a 50-year-old plan to improve traffic flow through North Bay, and hopefully ease some development frustrations, with a new Highway 11/17 bypass.

For years, 'Route 6' has been the big 'X' factor that city planners, developers and the business community have known only too well when siting new business on the highway.

With retail space along Lakeshore Drive and McKeown Avenue in the city's North End shopping district close to being maxed out, new development is shifting over to the Highway 11-17 corridor.

The success of the two-year-old Home Depot outlet and a likely expansion to Northgate Square plaza has rejuvenated developers' interest in being located on one of Northern Ontario's busiest thoroughfares.

The plan to create a new highway by-pass or expressway has been on the MTO's books since the 1960's. A route later was identified in the mid-1970's for a four-lane divided highway.

Known as Route 6, a new alignment would run just to the northeast of the current route, behind the present-day Northgate Plaza.

Though the MTO has slowly accumulated property for the potential right-of-way, no construction has taken place. Some in the business community argue it's stalled some highway development in anticipation of the new alignment going through.

"Whenever there's a planning project anywhere near it, they (MTO) mention Route 6," says Mark King, president of the North Bay and District Chamber of Commerce, who also serves on the city's planning board.

As a consulting agency, MTO approvals are required for municipal rezoning applications and the issuance of building permits.

King says in cases where developers are required to make road improvements such as turning lanes or install traffic lights, who pays for the upgrades? "We don't know."

"You don't want to give the impression we're not open for development," says King, who also serves on the City of North Bay's planning board.

But Ian Kilgour, the City's manager of planning, calls any animosity between the City and the MTO "last year's news" and cites the ongoing 30,000-square-foot expansion of Canadian Tire as a sign no development is being held up. "We're on very good terms with the MTO and we respect their processes."

Kilgour says city staff are on the same page with MTO's senior planners who regard the expressway study as a top priority.

The cost of any future road upgrades for future development will likely be a combination of the City of North Ba and the developer negotiated on a case-by-case basis.

The MTO has retained Stantec Consulting of Hamilton to do some preliminary design work and an environmental assessment study.

The consulting engineer has established a website (www.northbayhighwaystudy.ca) to allow locals to track the progress of the study and provide feedback.

King admits the existing 11/17 highway corridor is outdated but instead of creating a new alignment, he favours widening the existing route with interchanges at the three busiest intersections at Algonquin Avenue, Trout Lake Road and Seymour Street.

Though construction is years away, King would also like to see some short-term fixes.

Most notably to deal with an Ontario Northland Railway (ONR) crossing on Highway 17 that backs up traffic and offers few detour options for rush hour commuters and emergency vehicles.

King also says Trout Lake Road--Highway 63 to Quebec--"is one of the busiest two-lane highways around" that hasn't seen since significant upgrades in years.

MTO spokesman Gordan Rennie says the future Highway 11/17 alignment will include an overpass where it crosses the ONR line but there is no feasible short-term solution to deal with the crossing.

The expressway will be a divided four-lane freeway with no plans for an elevated expressway.

"The ministry is not certain if more or less property will be required for the future highway. That is one of the objectives of the current planning study."

Public information sessions are planned for this fall and next year before the planning study wraps up in summer 2007.

But King still believes new provincial planning legislation is warranted to stimulate growth in Northern Ontario.

He supports a brief prepared by the Northern Ontario Municipalities and Planning Board which was sent to provincial Municipal Affairs Minister John Gerretsen calling for a "new deal" for planning in the North.

"We've got southern Ontario rules in Northern Ontario and growth does not happen here that easily."

With population decreases in northeastern Ontario predicted over the next 25 years and the cyclical nature of the region's resource-dependent economy, King says the province's development rules are stifling growth.

www.northbayhighwaystudy.ca

By IAN ROSS

Northern Ontario Business