Farmers push for highway changes

By LAURA CUDWORTH STAFF REPORTER

Farmers affected by the proposed highway expansion found some friends on Perth East council.

However, they were left wondering if they had any support for the bulk of the meeting last night. The Agricultural Business Community (ABC) of Perth East, Perth South and Wilmot West made a presentation at the start of the meeting, but council was tight-lipped about the controversy surrounding the highway expansion until the end of the meeting.

ABC asked council to reject the most recent route proposed by the MTO and "require they go back to the drawing board" and come back with a new proposal that addresses ABC concerns.

"I think it's in our best interests not to be the ones who pick a route," said Deputy Mayor Bob McMillan. "There's no right answer, someone loses along the way."

Council declined to accept the ABC recommendation, but did vote to add any points from the ABC report not included in council's own draft of concerns that was headed to the Ministry of Transportation.

"Their response was better than I had hoped, but I still have concerns," said Sharon Weitzel of ABC after the meeting. "No one knows how flawed the process is. There shouldn't be any route approval until there are answers to our questions."

There are many questions from farmers and from councillors too.

The route unveiled in January follows Hwy. 7/8 until about 2.5 kilometres east of Shakespeare. It drops south and follows the train tracks and eventually veers further south through a bush lot and farmland, then follows a municipal drain before it connects with Line 33 or Pork Rd., where it bypasses Stratford.

The newest route bypassed Shakespeare after residents there mounted a loud and consistent lobby against a proposal that had the highway go right through town.

While residents of Shakespeare were able to breath a sigh of relief, farmers had to regroup and sort out what the consequences of the new route will be on their homes and businesses. The route will take out 500 acres of farmland to start, but other land may be necessary, Weitzel said. What she doesn't know is how much land and what the land is for.

Twenty-two agricultural businesses with 14,000 acres will be impacted by the route, said Paula Niece, of ABC. Access to farms currently divided by county roads or spread across parts of the county could be impossible, ABC suggested.

"If 22 businesses in Stratford or New Hamburg were affected they would have to listen. We're talking about cutting people off. Transportation is vital to agriculture," Niece said.

Coun. Rhonda Ehgoetz insisted a comment about council being "generally in support" of the route be taken out of the letter to the ministry.

The amount of farmland and the lack of road access for farm vehicles were two of her concerns. Still, she stopped short of supporting the recommendation.

"We can't pick and choose a side. We haven't done that yet."

Council will revisit its latest draft of concerns at the March 22 meeting.

A short list of concerns highlighted by ABC include:

* The proposed route does not use land on the north side of the existing highway between Shakespeare and Stratford that was taken from agriculture 30 years ago for the highway.

* Access to farm properties will be eliminated.

* The route puts some farmers in noncompliance with the Nutrient Management Act.

lcudworth@bowesnet.com

Letter to the Editor - Beacon Herald March 15th, 2011

Over thirty years ago the government told farmers east of Stratford along the north side of the existing Highway 7 and 8 that they were buying land off the front of their farms for future expansion of the highway. There was no discussion and this land was taken out of agriculture. If you drive today from Stratford towards Shakespeare you will note along the north side of the highway the fenced set back stretching from the Little Lakes to the west side of Shakespeare.

In January of this year the MTO and their consultant presented plans for a new Highwsy7/8 route. They are not planning on using the land they bought thirty years ago. Instead they are proposing a four lane controlled access highway that skirts south of Shakespeare and parallels the railroad until it comes near Road 110 where it will diagonally cut through several farms before it meets with Lorne Avenue. This route will take land from the backs of several farms adjacent to the railway and the controlled access route will prohibit farm lanes and access to farm land by producers.

The plan does not state what will happen to the existing north-south concession roads that cross the highway and are vital transportation links for farm equipment to pass between land units.

The role of ABC has been to educate the consultants on the intricacies of the business of farming. We have provided them with unlimited access to the community to make sense of the implications of their plans. We have prepared numerous briefs that can be seen on our web site hwy7and8.blogspot.com to help them make better decisions when it comes to agriculture.

The new proposal takes hundreds of acres out of production, puts many livestock producers in non-compliance of the nutrient management act, and gives no indication of how critical transportation links will be maintained.

If you do your best to buy local, if you follow the 100 mile diet, if you benefit directly or indirectly from Savour Stratford, and if you enjoy the rural landscape of century owned farms and well maintained farm lands on your country jaunts please take a moment to think about what you can do to help save farm land.

The MTO is requesting comments March 25. This is our last opportunity to influence the location of the planned route for this highway.

They can be reached at:

Ms. Brenda Jamieson, P. Eng.
Consultant Project Manager
AECOM
300 Water Street
Whitby, ON L1N 9J2
Email: projectteam@7and8corridorstudy.ca

Tel: Toll Free 1-866-921-9268
Fax: (905) 668-0221

Mr. Charles Organ, C.E.T.
Ministry of Transportation
- West Region
Project Manager
Planning & Design Section
659 Exeter Road
London, ON N6E 1L3
Email: projectteam@7and8corridorstudy.ca

Tel: (519) 873-4591
Tel: Toll Free 1-866-921-9268
Fax: (519) 873-4600

From Agricultural Business Community (ABC) of Perth East, Perth South and Wilmot West

ABC sends out Press Release

Agriculture Business Community, Perth East, Perth South, Wilmot West

PRESS RELEASE


The Agriculture Business Community, Perth East, Perth South, Wilmot West is composed of approximately 300 members in the 3 townships who are or could be impacted by any future road development as proposed by the MTO and the Hwy 7 and 8 Study Team. At the recent Public Information Meetings (PIC) in Shakespeare, (Jan. 17th and 18th) many of our members were alarmed at the amount of agricultural land that will be lost to highway development if this proposal goes through. Others are concerned about the impact on century farm homes.

From our initial ABC member debriefing to review feedback from the January PIC we were disturbed by the number of different answers given to the same questions by the MTO and their consultants. This is generating confusion and misinformation among members.

ABC members are concerned about the producers directly in the path of this proposed route as well as the farm businesses that rely upon access, both north and south crossing Highway 7&8 and those using sections of the existing route to move equipment, forage, manure and animals across land holdings that contribute to the farm business unit.

The community is being asked to comment on this proposal without being provided with information on what north/south links will remain open to farm equipment and the nature of these crossings be they overpasses or underpasses. The design decisions will presumably take more land from agriculture.

All livestock producers within the proposed route would be at risk of being non-compliance of the Nutrient Management Act. This Act is designed to protect all of our water supply and farmers presently carry all the costs to be in compliance.

While the MTO has indicated that they recognize the Act in some respects, individual farmers and businesses should not have to accept this loss or cost on behalf of our society.

Also to date, in spite of repeated requests, the MTO has not agreed to provide for any engineering or oversight for the drains both private and municipal that run beside and through this area. They have been told repeated by ABC that their drainage information is a decade old and yet they have moved forward with recommendations based on it. Individual owners of properties and Municipalities should not be forced to accept this societal cost, either.

ABC continues to contact members and review Report H to try to assess the impact of the proposed route on the agricultural business of the three townships. We will present a final report to the MTO by their March 25th deadline.

Waiting for bulldozers, but don't hold your breath

By JOHN KASTNER Beacon Herald

It would appear that some of the major obstacles to improved access from Stratford to New Hamburg have been cleared.

One, it would appear that the Ministry of Transportation has settled on a route that would swing south of Shakespeare and spare the hamlet. That only makes sense and it's rather surprising it took this long to come to that conclusion.

Another scenario, which would have seen Pork Rd. (Line 33) and possibly Vivian St. improved to highway standards to alleviate the pressure on the main highway, was rejected out of hand and a report obtained by The Beacon Herald last week gave some reasonable explanations.

The premise would have been to make Pork Rd. and Vivian St. one-way roads with one having two lanes east, the other two lanes west.

The logistical challenges were cited as one of the main obstacles and that is a valid point. A farmer who wants to go 100 metres west but is on the east-only road would have to go around a country block to get to the neighbours or even to his adjoining farm property.

Plowing five lanes through Shakespeare made no sense, but making people go five miles to get next door is not much better. The structure of the roads was also cited, and they are, in their present form at least, certainly secondary roads in both construction and design.

Widening those roads and bringing them up to snuff would not only have required extensive improvements to the road but it would have required buying property from current landowners along Vivian St. and Pork Rd.

All that was deemed fiscally prohibitive.

That would appear to have been the first time money was seen as a factor in these plans.
Also of note, the province has purchased Lingelbach United Church which sits just a few metres to the north of the highway between Shakespeare and New Hamburg.

That means that when the highway is widened it can move slightly to the north and miss both the cemetery and the Fryfogel Inn, which are on the south side.

So with some of the major obstacles out of the way one is left to wonder just when this grand construction project will begin. Well, given that the expansion of this highway has been talked about for more than 30 years, one wonders. And the document obtained by The Beacon Herald cites projected traffic volumes in 2031 as a basis for choosing the preferred route.

So, as much as both the new and old routes have caused a lot of angst, it would appear the arrival of bulldozers and earthmovers along Highway 7/8 isn't exactly imminent.

Lingelbach United Church Sold

by Laura Cudworth Beacon Herald Staff Reporter

Lingelbach United Church has been sold to the province. The deal closed Thursday. Trustee Lorne Fink declined to say how much the province paid but did say the money would go back to United Church projects. more......

MTO Opts for the Path of Least Resistance

Editorial

By JOHN KASTNER -Stratford Beacon Herald

When it to comes to the greatest dilemmas perhaps there are just no right answers.
And so it is with the expansion of Hwy. 7/8 from Stratford to New Hamburg.
The notion or driving four or five lanes through the heart of the hamlet of Shakespeare is beyond absurd but for a while, that was the preferred path.

Sanity has prevailed and according to details released Monday night the preferred path now swings just south of Shakespeare and heads into the south end of Stratford along Pork St.
Saving Shakespeare was the motivation for the citizens' groups, protests, signs and yellow ribbons, so it would appear the prime objective has been reached.

But others will argue that ripping up hundreds, possibly thousands of acres of some of the best farmland in the world is not much better. Regardless, the new path will certainly be viewed as the lesser of two evils by most -- unless of course you are one of the farmers who now sees the prospect of having his farm cut in half by a freeway.

For those farmers it now becomes hard to plan, plant, build or refinance when the expansion of the highway hangs over their collective heads like the sword of Damocles. But if the highway has to expand, and that seems to be a conclusion that most have resigned themselves to, then it has to go somewhere.

Logic would dictate that it needs to take a route that will have the least amount of negative impact. To that end, Shakespeare was off the table and enter the rural route.

The other fly in the ointment is the presence of three significant historical sites. The Fryfogel Inn of course along with the Lingelbach church and cemetery.

It has been stated many times that it may be years, possibly decades before the province tackles this project in earnest. On the other hand, the process has to start somewhere and defining a path is the obvious first step. Now that we move closer to that stage we can draw two conclusions from this elongated process.

On one hand, it's hard to believe, almost disconcerting, that anyone ever considered going through Shakespeare as a remotely viable option. Conversely, it's somewhat comforting to see that the decision makers could be swayed not only by protests and opposition, but by some common sense as well.

The affected farming community will be upset by the new path, and rightfully so, but there's no question, the new route beats the alternative.
Article ID# 2936887

New Route Avoids Towns Eats Farms

By LAURA CUDWORTH STAFF REPORTER -Stratford Beeacon Herald Jan. 18th, 2011

Shakespeare will be spared but some historical sites and Perth East farmland will fall victim to an expanded highway.

The Ministry of Transportation unveiled the route that the new multi-lane highway likely will take at a public meeting at the Shakespeare and District Optimist Hall Monday night. There will be another meeting tonight from 4 to 9 p.m.

The route follows Hwy. 7/8 until about 2.5 kilometres east of Shakespeare. It dips south and follows the train tracks and eventually veers further south through a bush lot and farmland, then follows a municipal drain before it connects with Line 33 or Pork Rd., where it bypasses Stratford.

It was a relief for many residents to see the highway move south of Shakespeare. There was a strong lobby by village residents after some proposals had five lanes go right through the centre of the community.

"I'm very happy to see the MTO has found a way of bypassing the village," said Dave Cole, chairperson of Shakespeare Area Residents Association.
"The key is to make sure the smallest number of people are impacted. I believe this is a step in the right direction."

Though Cole was happy the route doesn't go through Shakespeare, he said he does feel for those who will be affected by the highway. Some of those will be farmers. Land will be eaten up when the highway follows 7/8 and more will be affected when it dips to the south. Gary West's property won't be touched by the new route, but he was left wondering how farmers who are affected will manage.

"It's going to be tough if you have to move machinery from one side (of the highway) to the other," he said. He wondered if combines and other heavy equipment would be allowed on the new highway at all.

The Agriculture Business Community of Perth East, Perth South and Wilmot West has 300 members and has been well organized and actively advocating to protect as much farmland as possible.

Sharon Weitzel wasn't prepared to speak for the group immediately after seeing the plan last night.

"We have a large membership that needs to digest this," she said. "All I can say is it goes through a lot of farmland."

History buffs have some concerns about the plan, too. The highway expansion goes past the Fryfogel Inn as well as Lingelbach cemetery and church. All of those properties are already close to the road. "It's not very positive. I'm sure we'll direct some concerns to the Ministry of Transportation," said Ian Taylor, a member of the Perth County Historical Foundation.
He also had concerns about the impact on the railway if the Canadian National Railway wants to expand the tracks.

Charles Organ, MTO project manager, said the ministry could mitigate the impact on the Fryfogel Inn by expanding on the north side. "We recognize the historical significance of the Fryfogel Inn and respect that and we'll factor that in as the study moves on," he said.
Organ called the Lingelbach Church and cemetery a pinch point.

"We tend to steer away from cemeteries," he said, though the impact on the church would also be looked at. Organ said there was positive feedback at the meeting and unless new and significant information comes forward, the process will likely move to the next stage, which is a preliminary design.

For his part, Cole is satisfied with the process. "I do believe the system works. The MTO asked for feedback-- every time we answered and we were heard," he said.

After tonight's meeting, the ministry will be accepting more feedback.
The next meeting is scheduled for late spring and another in late 2011 will focus on the preferred preliminary design. The study should be complete by 2012.

lcudworth@bowesnet.com