Township council has agreed to once again study the feasibility of widening 208 Street in north 91原创.
Residents and commuters alike have long complained that 208 Street is a congested roadway, cut up with construction, lanes that start and stop and gravel shoulders, all of which create safety issues.
At the Feb. 19 Township meeting, council unanimously agreed to update a 2015 report that looked at the costs and feasibility of the municipality widening 208 Street.
Currently, the Township relies on developers to finish the portion of the road that fronts their projects. It is a policy that many municipalities follow.
The motion to fast-track widening was made by Coun. Petrina Arnason, who feels the road through 91原创鈥檚 most rapidly growing community is 鈥榰ntenable,鈥� causing 鈥榙river impatience鈥� and gridlock, halting the movement of goods and services and causing safety concerns for residents and drivers.
鈥淚 want the report to include the possibility of municipal borrowing to facilitate finishing the 208 Street corridor in a timely fashion,鈥� said Arnason.
鈥淭his is our largest densification all in one area and Willoughby is only 30 per cent built out.鈥�
鈥淲e have lots of tools in our tool box to address this. We need some political will,鈥� she added. 鈥淚ts time has come. Make it a safer community, make it flow better and look at it sooner rather than later.鈥�
鈥淚 believe that there are possible opportunities to consider medium-term borrowing to complete the works, with subsequent DCCs from Willoughby-related developments being utilized to help to pay back the funds, similar to the rationale of Local Area Plan strategies,鈥� Arnason said.
鈥淭he Township could also consider initiating a prepaid discounted DCC proposal in order to encourage 鈥榰p front鈥� funding for developments adjacent to 208 in order to facilitate enhanced uptake prior to actual buildout.鈥�
The 2015 report from staff estimated it would cost $47 million to widen 208 Street into four lanes, with an additional $12 million to widen the overpass.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been three years since the report (was written). Since then, 12,000 to 15,000 more people have come to 91原创 and most of them on the Willoughby slope.
(It鈥檚 a) very busy road, lots of challenges with it,鈥� said Coun. Blair Whitmarsh. 鈥淚t鈥檚 time.鈥�
Coun. Charlie Fox said he doesn鈥檛 think anything can be done unless taxpayers want to shoulder a huge increase to their property taxes.
鈥淲e would have to expropriate the land at a very lofty price and I don鈥檛 know how we are going to do that without burdening the taxpayers,鈥� said Fox.
In a later interview, Fox said when the 2015 report was made the Smith neighbourhood plan wasn鈥檛 complete and now it is. That densified development will go in from 72 Avenue north to around 77a Avenue, near 208 Street.
The 208 Street debate was an election issue for Mayor Jack Froese when he first ran.
鈥淲hen I was first elected, the question I asked was why don鈥檛 we fix 208 Street,鈥� said Froese.
The widening of the 208 Street overpass will be open soon, he added.
Coun. Kim Richter said 208 Street is a perfect example of not properly planning communities.
鈥淲illoughby has been developing out for 18 years now, and that road has gotten worse not better,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t is because of the lack of phasing-in development. We owe it to the taxpayers in the area. That road needs to be fixed.鈥�
Richter said what has happened in Willoughby must not happen in the development of Brookswood-Fernridge.
No timeline has been set for the new report on 208 Street widening.
monique@langleytimes.com
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