The Blue Mountains council has approved final design and tendering for a contentious road project that includes significant upgrades to the town’s sewage infrastructure.
At its committee of the whole meeting on Feb. 4, council voted 5-2 in favour of taking the Bay Street East reconstruction project to the final design/tender phase. Councillors June Porter and Paula Hope voted against approval of the project.
The discussion and debate around the project consumed most of the morning portion of the meeting. Council heard from multiple speakers on the matter during the proceedings.
The town has been working on the project for many months and over that time, the project has developed into one of the most controversial projects on council’s plate.
The Bay Street East work is part of a much larger project to increase capacity at the town’s sewage treatment plant in Thornbury. The work includes expanding the treatment capacity at the plant, as well as upgrading the pumping station on Mill Street. The town has secured a $25 million grant from the provincial government for the project.
The work would include a complete reconstruction of Bay Street East (from Mill Street to Grey Street) and Grey Street leading to the town’s sewage treatment plant on the other side of Highway 26. Included in the work are significant upgrades to existing underground water and sewage infrastructure (which are in danger of failing) and the addition of a sewage forcemain to increase the town’s sewage treatment capacity.
The project has generated strong opinions from the public ranging from outright opposition, to concerns about plans to significantly alter Bay Street, a quiet, tree lined road in Thornbury.
“I realize it has been a challenging time for everyone,” Hope said as council began considering the staff report on the project.
There have been plenty of twists and turns on the project over the past year. Council went against the town’s own engineering standards when it mandated the project design be for a one-way street. A few months later – as public continued to oppose the project – a motion to reconsider the design for the project did not receive enough support from council.
On Dec. 17, 2024, the town held a second public information centre on the project to gather public input on the designs. In their report on the matter, staff warned that if the project does not proceed, any growth and development in Thornbury would grind to a halt.
Council’s approval directs the work on Bay Street East to proceed as a one-way street with no sidewalks or multi-use trail and no drainage ditches. Council also approved adding $150,000 to the contingency budget for the engineering contingency for the project to allow for additional communications with the public as the project proceeds, which includes the services of an arborist, landscape architect and designer.
During the discussion on the project, Mayor Andrea Matrosovs moved the resolution, but requested an addition that would see concerns about pedestrian and cycling safety on the new road addressed by the addition of signage, paint markings and posts.
This addition proved controversial and was defeated in a 5-2 vote with just Matrosovs and Deputy Mayor Peter Bordignon in favour.
This led to more discussion as council had to decide how to proceed.
“We still need to give staff direction on this project. We’ve been working on it for the past year and a half,” said Bordignon.
Ultimately, after more debate, council passed the original resolution recommended by staff in the 5-2 vote.