Barrie councillors lent an ear to Highway 400 sound barriers Monday night.
They gave initial approval to ask the province that additional sound or noise barriers be installed along the 400 to help improve the quality of life for city residents who live near the busy Ontario highway.
But Deputy Mayor Barry Ward cautioned that the highway won’t go quiet, even with the barriers.
“I want to temper some expectations. Sound barriers are not going to make a big difference,” he said, noting they could mean five decibels less noise. “It’s not a big difference, but it’s at least some improvement. I think the residents’ lives will be improved, the quality of life or at least the problem won’t get a lot worse.
"It’s not going to eliminate the noise," Ward added.
If approved by the province, 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.
“Even though it’s only a five-decibel difference, it makes a heck of a difference if you back onto Highway 400,” said Mayor Jeff Lehman.
City council will consider final approval of this action 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.
This MTO 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.
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.
Councillors also gave initial approval Monday night to a number of land expropriations by the MTO needed to eventually replace Highway 400 bridges and do related interchanges work. The city would receive $547,740 for this land. This work is to replace the Anne Street bridge (2021-22) and Sunnidale Road bridge (2023-24), along with replacing the Dunlop Street bridge and its interchanges (2024-27) and replacing the Essa Road bridge and its interchanges (2022-24).
Astrid Poei, MTO communications spokeswoman, said the timeline for all of this work isn’t definite. The Anne Street bridge replacement and noise walls have been identified in the MTO’s Ontario Highway Program, 2020 to 2022, but timing for projects is subject to change depending on availability of funding and obtaining all necessary approvals.
Ward said a 2017 environmental assessment recommended more sound barriers north of Bayfield Street, but all have been dropped for some reason. He also said a proposed major townhouse development on Edgehill Drive could also be affected.
“My concern is we are actually going backwards, getting fewer sound barriers than were originally recommended,” Ward said.
Michelle Banfield, the city’s development services director, said sound or noise barrier placement is related to how much residential land is immediately abutting the highway corridor, because residential uses tend to be more noise sensitive. Commercial, industrial or institutional uses are less sensitive.
Poei said this 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.
She also said the size of the new bridges will accommodate the future widening of Highway 400 to 10 lanes — although funding for the future widening of Highway 400 has not been approved.
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 Mapleview Drive, with an option to go to 10 lanes. It would be 10 lanes from 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 is offering a window until Dec. 19, 2020 to comment on its Highway 400 proposals. Click here for information.
