Brooklin Town Crier, 26 Feb 2021, p. 2

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2 Friday, February 26, 2021 brooklintowncrier.com The Brooklin Town Crier is locally owned and operated and is a publication of Appletree Graphic Design Inc. We accept advertising in good faith but do not endorse advertisers nor advertisements. All editorial submissions are subject to editing. For advertising information, Email: mulcahy42@rogers.com Next Issue: Friday, March 12, 2021 Deadline: Friday, March 5, 2021 Publications dates subject to change during COVID-19 Pandemic Less than half the picture: By Richard Bercuson Sys - Boom - Whaaaa…!!! That's the sound made by people as Brooklin's population explodes. (With apologies to the late Johnny Carson's Carnac the Magnificent) Although the maps in our Feb. 12 issue (brooklintowncrier.com) were conceptual, what had been planned more than 15 years ago is now on the verge of happening. Some good burghers feel our community rests atop tectonic plates whose movement will be triggered by the onslaught of construction machinery. They believe the resultant quakes will forever shatter Brooklin's placidness and desecrate what is left of its charm. Letter writers to Councillor Steve Lee likened the proposed expansion to Scarborough or, heavens, Mississauga. Both are about as suburban ugly as it gets. Much of Brooklin's development began around the turn of this century. Especially in the last few years, we've faced traffic and transportation problems which may yet be resolved, but aren't quite there. We still face problems surrounding how to redirect vehicles around Brooklin. The 407 was completed in 2016 yet the arterial road bypass has not yet broken ground though there's been much broken wind about it coming. Evidently the environmental assessment is done and one hopes there'll be shovels at work this year. Trucks continue to rumble through downtown. The Copper Branch restaurant could have survived quite nicely had it been paid the price of one smoothie for each truck that went by. The regional catastrophe called Winchester west of Watford/ Anderson remains hellish. Traffic in and through the community has "matured" as have the number and ages of drivers. We've had our fill of speeding, running stop signs, and flying through crosswalks. However, the area's layout hasn't helped which has meant needing to apply band aid solutions. Why was most of Carnwith constructed with no traffic calming measures? Why can you travel on Watford from Cassels to Carnwith, past two elementary schools and a church, with virtually nothing but signs and road paint - useless in winter - to suggest you slow down? Who thought it a good idea for Carnwith to be more than two lanes going past Chris Hadfield and St. Bridget elementary schools? The town recently added an electronic crosswalk at Anderson and Duggan - 20 years after the subdivision was built! Brooklin North Major Roads Environmental Assessment - Recommended Intersection Control Measures From Committee of the Whole Report PW 5-21 at the Town of Whitby on February 22, 2021 Despite the wailing and gnashing of teeth, we're not going to stop the development. However, in order to ensure the new northern habitats are safe and have a fighting chance to preserve Brooklin's charm, a number of steps are in the offing. Unlike Brooklin's current road structure, the new developments will have traffic measures put in place before the northern lands are completed. A Whitby town staff report (PW 5-21) at the Feb. 22 Council of the Whole meeting describes in detail how those plans will look. Obviously it's much easier - and more sensible - to establish where there will be stop lights, speed bumps and even roundabouts before building is done so as not to repeat the errors we've had to endure. All of this is good news. It does lead me though to one question: will it also be time to have a police station up that way?

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