Tuning out Highway 400’s noise is on Barrie council's radar Monday night.
Councillors will consider a motion asking that additional sound barriers be installed along the 400 to help improve the quality of life for city residents who live near the busy provincial highway.
“When I've driven around the province, I've noticed sound barriers in many, many areas,” Deputy Mayor Barry Ward told BarrieToday. “I think Barrie is unique in not having any sound barriers along the 400-series highway. It's time we received equal treatment.”
The new sound barriers would be adjacent to Highway 400, northeast of Anne Street to the end of Edgehill Drive; adjacent to both sides of the Sunnidale Road bridge; and immediately north of Bayfield Street, on both sides, adjacent to any residential properties.
The identified sound barrier by Little Lake would be considered for a berm structure, and other areas would be considered for appropriateness of a berm versus noise walls.
City council will consider final approval of this item-for-discussion motion at its Dec. 7 meeting.
This plan would be a request to Ontario’s Transportation Ministry (MTO) in response to its notice of completion and submission of design and construction report for replacement of the Anne Street bridge, which would accommodate the future 10-lane widening of the 400, and installation of other sound barriers along Highway 400 in Barrie, near Anne, Bayfield and Duckworth streets.
“Over the years, residents in the vicinity of Highway 400 have frequently asked me about the possibility of sound barriers — or 'noise walls' as the province calls them — and my answer has always been the same. It's up to the provincial Ministry of Transportation of Ontario,” Ward said. “As a council, we have asked for sound barriers in the past alongside residential areas and we will do so again on Monday.
“I guess people get used to it, but part of the reason for putting them up now is that, with the widening of the highway and increase in traffic volumes, Highway 400 is going to get noisier,” he added. “Sound barriers, which the MTO believes reduce the sound by at least five decibels, will go toward preventing the problem from getting worse.”
This project also includes resurfacing Highway 400 from north of Dunlop Street to north of Sunnidale Road, and from north of Bayfield Street to north of St. Vincent Street, improving the drainage there and replacing median barriers.
Ward says part of the reason for bringing up the issue again now is that the province has opened up a 30-day window for comments on the design of the Highway 400 work north of Dunlop Street, including the replacement of the Anne Street bridge, and the sound barriers.
Unfortunately, Ward said, the plans don't include some of the areas outlined in an earlier MTO report, from March 2019, that promised barriers, such as in the area north of Bayfield Street adjacent to residential areas on both sides.
“Furthermore, I think a case can be made for extending the barriers in my ward along Edgehill Drive, northeast of the Anne Street bridge, since there is a proposal to add more than 100 townhouses in that area,” said the deputy-mayor, who represents Ward 4.
“There is no timetable in any of the (MTO) documents that I've seen," Ward added. "I know the Anne Street bridge replacement has to be done before much of the other work, followed by the Sunnidale Road bridge replacement.”
MTO communications spokeswoman Astrid Poei said the timeline for all of this work is anything but set in stone.
“The Anne Street bridge replacement and noise walls have been identified on the ministry’s Ontario Highway Program, 2020 to 2022,” she told BarrieToday. “Timing for projects is subject to change depending on availability of funding and obtaining all necessary approvals.”
Poei says the work is being undertaken as part of MTO’s highway rehabilitation program; each year the MTO receives approved funding for rehabilitation of the provincial highway network and the ministry identifies projects for rehabilitation as part of the Ontario Highway Program. Each project is programmed and a cost estimate is determined for the associated work.
“The ministry does not release internal project estimates prior to tendering and award to maintain the integrity of the tendering process,” she said. “The tender value can be made available after award.”
Poei said the size of the new bridges will accommodate the future widening of Highway 400 to 10 lanes.
“Funding for the future widening of Highway 400 has not been approved,” she noted.
Widening the 400 to eight or 10 lanes from six is not a new notion. The plan has been around for decades as a way to ease the growing gridlock commuters, commercial vehicles, tourists and cottage drivers face on a regular basis.
The MTO has said the average annual daily traffic along Highway 400 is approximately 100,000 vehicles in the Barrie area.
In 2002, MTO officials said commuter times on the 400 would double in 20 years if the highway wasn’t widened. At that time, the plan was to expand the 400 to eight lanes between Highway 89 and Molson Park Drive (now Mapleview Drive), with an option to go to 10 lanes. It would be 10 lanes from Molson Park Drive (Mapleview Drive) to Bayfield Street, then back to eight from Bayfield to the Highway 400/11 interchange. The cost of this work was estimated, at the time, to be $300 million.
Three springs ago, the MTO’s Southern Highways Program, a five-year capital plan updated annually, included the Essa Road bridge/interchange replacement, along with the Dunlop Street interchange and bridge, along with the Sunnidale Road bridge. The Anne Street bridge and Bayfield Street bridge/interchange were not included.
The MTO says details on the locations of noise barriers to be installed as part of the Anne Street project can be found on the project website by clicking here.
There is also a link to the Anne Street project update slide deck which can be found by clicking here. Noise barrier lengths and heights have been designed to meet the requirements of the ministry’s noise policy.
The MTO is offering a 30-day window, until Dec. 19, 2020, to comment on its Highway 400 proposals. More information on the project can be found by clicking here.
