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5 | O akville B eaver | T hursday,June 20,2019 insidehalton.com Music By: Elton Ron Groovehammer STA HouseBand Fiddlestix Ozone Baby Bare Blue Sea The Hornets The Beat Heathens ribbers beer tents kids play zone people movers amusement park wheelchair & stroller friendly artists crafters vendors lots of parking easy transit live music JUNE 21TO 23 SHERIDAN COLLEGE Friday, 4 - 11 • Saturday, 11 - 11 • Sunday, 11 - 7 OakvilleFamilyRibfest.com Kick off your summer with some fun! MISSISSAUGA 5980 McLaughlin Rd. Mavis &McLaughlin near Loblaws BURLINGTON 1515 North Service Rd. Burlington OAKVILLE 243 Speers Rd. Oakville CONCEPT LIGHTING GROUP SALE WWW.CONCEPTLIGHTING.CA ENTIRE STORE ON SALE PLUS AN EXTRA 25% OFF FINALWEEKEND ONALL IN STOCK LIGHTING PLUS PAY NOTHING FOR 6 MONTHSPLUS PAY NOTHING FOR 6 MONTHS WITH NO INTEREST AND NO DOWN PAYMENT* CONCEPT LIGHTING GROUP If the business commu- nity wants festivities on Bronte Road for Canada Day, they will have to foot the bill themselves. This was the outcome of a special Oakville council meeting on Monday, June 10, during which council fi- nalized plans for the shut- tle service that will take people from the Bronte GO Station to the Bronte Heri- tage Waterfront Park to see the fireworks display on Ju- ly 1. Town staff proposed to use the same shuttle route that was in place for the 2018 celebration; however, the local business commu- nity says this was disas- trous for them last year. Cheryl Etherington of the Bronte BIA board noted that last year's decision to have the shuttle buses run down Bronte Road (south of Lakeshore Road) to a drop off/pick up point on Marine Drive renders Bronte Road a "dead zone" during the Canada Day celebration. "It prevents any activa- tion on the street, like danc- ing or merchants out in front of their stores holdingfront of their stores holdingf sidewalk sales. We are also not allowed to have side- walk patios," said Ethe- rington. "We are a tourist area. This was one of the single highest sales days for our members, and now, due to the lack of traffic and non- activation of the street, it's plummeted their sales to an all-time low." Etherington said that previously people would disembark from the buses on Lakeshore Road West, at which point people would walk down a closed Bronte Road, where they had the opportunity to experience local businesses on their way to the park. The drop-off point on Marine Drive means the businesses are bypassed, and there are no events al- lowed on the street to draw people back, said Ethering- ton. She said the situation is made worse by the street being closed to regular traf- fic starting at 5 p.m.fic starting at 5 p.m.f Town chief administra- tive officer Ray Green em- phasized that when the town took over the Bronte Canada Day celebration, af- ter the Bronte BIA said they could no longer hold it due to funding issues, it was made clear that, going for- ward, the town would hold an evening fireworks dis- play only and not the costly all-day festival that had pre- viously taken place. Despite this, Green said, the 2018 event drew a crowd of about 35,000 people. Green also said the town did not place barriers to stop the Bronte BIA from holding daytime activities on Canada Day. Sarah Douglas-Murray of the town's cultural ser- vices department said an alternative route, which would drop people off in the area of Lakeshore Road and Jones Street, was not deemed feasible, for a num- ber of reasons. Murray said the area bounded by Lakeshore Road, Nelson Street, Ma- rine Drive and Jones Street would be boxed in by road closures, making it difficult for residents there to leavefor residents there to leavef or enter the area. She also mentioned the drop-off would be one block farther from the event sitefarther from the event sitef and that 3,400 event notices have already been distrib- uted and changing the plan now might cause confu- sion. Etherington said the Bronte BIA raised this is- sue now because it only re- cently became clear the town was planning on us- ing the same shuttle route. Town staff said the pre- vious shuttle service orga- nized by the Bronte BIA dropped people off at Lake- shore and Bronte but creat- ed significant concerns about crowds and egress from the site.from the site.f Green said the town is willing to work with the BIA to activate Bronte Road during the day, prior to 5 p.m., but said the town has not budgeted for such a road closure and argued the costs should be covered by the BIA. Council ultimately de- cided it was too late to alter the Canada Day transpor- tation plan but directed town staff to work with the Bronte BIA to activate Bronte Road during the daytime at the business community's expense. JULY 1 TRANSPORTATION PLAN MOVES AHEAD DESPITE OBJECTIONS The Town of Oakville and city businesses are at odds about this year's Canada Day celebrations. Torstar file photo DAVID LEA dlea@metroland.com NEWS