There may be a $2.7 million capital budget for the Town of Huntsville’s public works department, but it was one $200,000 item that got the most attention at the last meeting on June 26.

Public works director Peter Brown presented a report recommending a slew of capital projects for this year to take advantage of a $1.1 million provincial grant, as well as $565,000 in federal gas tax revenue currently sitting in town coffers.

One of the proposed projects is an extension of Lindgren Road West to Bickley Country Drive, creating a link to the interchange at Muskoka Road 3 and Hwy. 11.

Brown’s report states that the “arterial connection will allow large trucks easier access to Hwy. 11, utilizing the ramps at Muskoka Road 3.”

Huntsville mayor Claude Doughty told the Forester Monday that the project is one he wanted to see in the public works budget for this year.

“I’ve always had an issue with that exit because Manitoulin (Group of Companies, a local trucking company) has been in there for years. I’m really nervous about that,” he said.

Doughty explained his concern with the access to Hwy. 11 off Lindgren Road West is the short sightlines of southbound traffic.

Adding more cause for concern for Doughty is the fact that late last year, the town approved the development of a concrete plant in the area, creating even more truck traffic for the road.

In December, town council approved the development of a concrete plant and office for Sarjeant Co. Ltd. at 9100 Hwy. 11 South and at the end of Hemmings Road, which will have access the highway off Lindgren Road.

At the time, and again at public works meetings early in 2008, the mayor suggested that the municipality might look at extending Lindgren Road to attach to Bickley Country Drive itself.

According to Gordan Rennie, regional issues advisor for the Ministry of Transportation (MTO), Lindgren Road is scheduled to have its at-grade access to Hwy. 11 removed and replaced with a fly-over bridge and access to the highway diverted through Muskoka Road 3.

While Rennie provided no timelines for the project, Lindgren Road is part of an Ultimate Freeway preliminary design study that was completed and approved in 1992 for Hwy. 11 from Gravenhurst to Huntsville.

At the committee meeting, there were numerous comments about the time it has taken for the ministry to move forward on the project north of Bracebridge, with committee chair Brian Thompson referring to them as the ministry of molasses.

“For decades in this community I’ve been hearing about them fixing the (access) in

Port Sydney (at South Mary Lake Road) and it still isn’t done, and I’ve looked at my birth certificate enough to know that I won’t be around by the time they ever get to do the one at Lindgren Road,” Doughty told the committee.

But Thompson argued strongly that the Lindgren Road project is not one the town should be taking on.

He said the issue will eventually be dealt with by the MTO, and that even if the town were to join the two roads, there is no guarantee that anyone would use it unless the town could close access to Hwy. 11 completely from Lindgren Road.

“There’s never been an accident there and yet we’ve had Manitoulin blowing in and out of there for a decade or more. We have a much bigger problem at Port Sydney where … there (are) fatalities there on a ongoing basis,” he said.

Doughty replied that the town should close access to Hwy. 11 from Lindgren Road completely.

Although no one at the public works committee knew at the time whether a municipality could close access to a provincial highway, Rennie later clarified for the Forester that it can be done.

“But under the Provincial Highway Transportation and Improvement Act, they require the ministry’s approval before the road can be closed,” he said.

Thompson also pointed out at the committee meeting that, if the ministry was concerned about safety, they would have objected to the Sarjeant application when they were asked for comment last year.

According to the minutes of the Dec. 17, 2007 council meeting, and the planning report presented at the time, the MTO stated that, although the development is outside their permit area, they did not support the proposal “for safety reasons related to trucks accessing the existing at grade Highway 11/Lindgren Road intersection.”

It continues to state that “the MTO is of the opinion that it is appropriate to delay additional industrial zoned land on Hemmings Road until the new road connections are built and the existing intersection is closed.”

When asked about why council would approve the development if the ministry had raised concerns at the time, Doughty replied that he was in support of the Sarjeant project, but he also felt that responsibility lies with the town to make access to the highway safer for that area.

“The town was the developer ultimately in that industrial park, so I think we have a higher than normal onus to solve that issue,” he said, adding, “I’m not satisfied sitting back and saying it’s an MTO issue . . . . Safety seems to be everybody’s mantra around the council table these days so I can’t think of a more relevant example.”

When asked the same question, Thompson pointed out that, while the ministry did raise concerns, they were also listed as having no objection.

“They’re talking out of both sides of their mouth,” he said. “(It’s) $200,000 that we could very easily be spending elsewhere, and why would we be doing something that the MTO’s doing in any event?”

Thompson added that since ministry approval is needed before the road can even be closed, it will likely be several weeks before the town hears back from the ministry, and possibly longer before approval is received for the project.

“I mean, here we are budgeting doing $200,000 for this year that we probably won’t even get a comment on for weeks and weeks,” he said. “To me it’s another situation where we’re flying off without doing our due diligence.”

The public works budget was approved, except for the Lindgren Road project, which will be discussed further once the public works committee receives more information on required approvals.