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8 Friday, August 13, 2021 brooklintowncrier.com Regional Councillor Rhonda Mulcahy, North Ward Councillor Steve Lee & Regional Councillor Elizabeth Roy About that EA A couple of years ago, the Town of Whitby initiated an Environmental Assessment (EA) to reroute highway 7/12 from downtown Brooklin. The EA was meant to provide an alternative route. We are approaching the end of it. The initial push for this stemmed from the desire to obtain care and control over our downtown. It would enable us to make improvements like changing the parking, creating bump outs and curbs, installing pedestrian crossovers, extending the sidewalks with interlock, burying hydro lines, etc. It would also, of course, redirect truck traffic away from the downtown. The last time this was presented to council, there were more than 10 possible routes still on the map. However, at the beginning of the summer, our EA was presented to Scugog Council showing a route using mainly Durham #23 to Townline Road before joining back to Baldwin north of Myrtle Station. Not presented Whitby Council hasn't yet had this presented to us for our feedback. Meanwhile, the community along Townline Road is, rightfully, in a tizzy. With the pandemic, we've had little opportunity for a proper dialogue with residents. It has left everyone frazzled. Concerns include: environmental concerns surrounding the Oak Ridges Moraine and Greenbelt; the elevational changes and hidden entrances; the groundwater and well systems; the impact to a local favourite, Hy Hope Farms; the loss of farmland; and, not least of all, the impact to homeowners. All of those are our concerns as well. Province directive When we set out with this EA, the province informed us it would not allow us to have care and control of downtown Brooklin without providing an alternative route identified through this process at a provincial standard. Yet, we've been watching this unfold and waiting for a unicorn to appear. We hoped an existing route would appear that didn't provide so many issues. We now feel like the limitations of our Whitby's physical boundaries are going to mean no superior alternative to the route we have now. But here is the crux of it: the EA's results. Expensive road Let's imagine there was zero opposition to the route itself and we could simply go ahead and build that road. However, we fear it is something we can't support. The estimated costs of that road are astronomical, around $200 million. A lot of this money would come from Development Charges(DCs). But what we use for this road in DCs takes away from somewhere else in infrastructure needs that we have to find ways to pay for. Most may cringe at the thought of spending so much money knowing that it will leave deficits to make up for in property taxes at some point. Is the return on investment sound? Growth is coming to the area that is going to cause traffic woes and congestion throughout the downtown. Trucks just won't want to use downtown Brooklin. In speaking with some of our downtown businesses, the attitude has changed. Some have been part of the business association and steering committees of the past 20 years where this was the primary focus. Different attitudes But there's been a lot of change in small businesses and the types of businesses in our downtown core. Many aren't opposed to visiting traffic driving through and catching a glimpse of what Brooklin offers. The small business world has been very different during the pandemic, but also even before. In the world of Amazon, we now have to consider what our downtown really is and how we promote it. It's time to revisit the conversations with the provincial ministries. The EA was worth doing as an elimination process. Without doubt, we have explored options. We are ready to put it away and have more meaningful conversations about the improvements we can make to Brooklin's downtown while the route remains in the province's hands. We three cannot speak for the rest of council. We may be told we are off base and speaking out of turn with this before the EA is completed. Normally we would allow the EA to be done without giving an opinion. But in this case, the residents along any of the offered alternative routes need to hear we do not see your routes as the unicorn we are looking for yet. Right now, the whole EA issue begs the question: "Is it worth it?"