Councillors hit their next stop en route to possibly creating a transit hub at the Allandale Waterfront GO station for city buses, but not before discussing whether the Barrie South GO station might be a better fit.
Under the plan, services from the transit terminal on Maple Avenue would be relocated to a new hub at Allandale, with the downtown building then possibly being transformed into a permanent community market.
On Monday night, city councillors gave final approval, in principle pending capital prioritization and approvals, for the final design of a new transit facility, which would be located near the Allandale Waterfront GO station.
The new transit building would be built on vacant land north of the bus facility at Allandale Waterfront GO Station.
The transit hub could have 13 bus bays, ticket-selling services for local and regional transit, parcel receipt, washrooms, a waiting area, vestibule, offices and retail space.
Cost estimates range from $9 million for a two-storey facility to $6.4 million for the one-storey option.
Concerns have been raised about bringing additional traffic to Allandale.
According to a traffic study, around 600 vehicles per hour pass through the intersection at Essa Road/Tiffin Street/Bradford Street at peak times.
“The fact of the matter is it’s a real concern,” said Coun. Arif Khan. “It’s not just a concern today, it’s been a concern for a while. It’s an awkward intersection.”
Khan questioned whether future intensification in the area will “magnify” the problem, which could lead to a redesign and widening of Essa Road, as noted in the city’s plans.
Construction of the Allandale transit hub would increase traffic by nine buses an hour, but the vehicles wouldn’t be permitted to turn left off Essa Road into the facility.
“Nine buses an hour is one every seven minutes or so and it just doesn’t have an impact on traffic in terms of congestion by adding one vehicle every seven minutes,” said Mayor Jeff Lehman, adding operational improvements with how buses access the hub, such as special bus signals, should help.
Lehman said he understands residents’ concerns regarding the existing level of traffic along the lakeshore, but “the whole point (of this plan) is actually to reduce traffic down there,” he said.
Councillors discussed whether the Barrie South GO station, located at Yonge Street and Mapleview Drive, might be better suited for the transit hub.
“Allandale Waterfront station was not designed, certainly in GO’s plans, to be the commuter hub,” said Khan, although he also noted Barrie South GO isn’t the ‘destination’ for people.
“Barrie downtown or Barrie lakeshore waterfront is the destination,” he said. “So if we were to redirect people down there (to Barrie South), as another alternative in the design, what would that look like?”
Brent Forsyth, the city’s director of transit and parking strategy, said there are advantages to creating the transit hub at the Allandale Waterfront GO station.
“For inter-city carriers (buses) coming off the Essa Road interchange, (a transit hub at Allandale) would be way more efficient than going to the Barrie South GO,” he said. “So, when we’re connecting to Ontario Northland ... which gets residents from Barrie to Sudbury, North Bay and farther to the north, there is definitely more efficiency connecting out of Allandale.
“Having the one central location where all of our inter-city and most of our local buses connect is a huge benefit to the city,” Forsyth added.
GO will start offering all-day train service in the coming years, which is the impetus behind the city’s plan to create a transit hub to link buses and trains.
Forsyth said as ridership grows at the Allandale Waterfront GO station, an area which has limited parking, people will turn to public transit, reducing reliance on the automobile.
Lehman said both of the city’s GO stations have parking constraints that would have to be dealt with, regardless of which is chosen as the hub.
Either way, Lehman said the transit-hub idea looks toward “a future where a lot more people are travelling to Toronto by train, because there are trains every hour,” he said. “So, you can ride a bus into Barrie and get on the train to Toronto and vice versa. You can’t do that today.”
The mayor said there are limited options.
“There really is no point looking at any other location, other than maybe the other GO station … and that’s about six or seven kilometres ... out to the highway from the Barrie South GO station,” said Lehman, adding that would add time onto inter-city bus travel.
“It’s in the far southeast corner of the city, as opposed to directly in the middle,” he said. “The fact is the city is growing to the south and our transit terminal located on Maple Avenue in the ’70s was geographically in the middle of the city.”
As the city grows, the Allandale Waterfront GO station is now almost exactly in the heart of the city, Lehman said.
By moving the downtown terminal to a hub at Allandale, as has been proposed, there would still be a municipal transit pick-ups and drop-offs at on Maple Avenue.
The Allandale transit hub is also tied to the downtown public market project which, once most of the transit services are relocated from the downtown terminal, the Maple Avenue building could be converted into a permanent market at a cost of close to $9 million. A new farmers’ market pavilion would also be built.
However, the market proposal is on hold until city staff have received and reviewed funding requirements and restrictions for provincial grants, at which point they will report back to general committee.
Lehman also addressed the notion that the Allandale transit hub and converting the Maple Avenue terminal building are linked.
“Well, of course there are ties,” he said. “You wouldn’t do the market if you didn’t do (the Allandale transit hub). But as this project evolved, I really came to see this as standing alone on its own merit.”
Lehman said it’s also a great opportunity to take advantage of funding under the Public Transit Infrastructure Fund program, which could pay for two-thirds of the project.
“I would do it even if we weren’t doing the market,” he said.
Coun. Steve Trotter said the downtown market and Allandale transit hub, at a combined cost of around $14 million, should be dealt with as individual projects.
“That’s one of the things I’ve been struggling with on this public market,” he said. “If they’re not viewed as mutually exclusive, it’s a big nut to crack. From a conceptual perspective, I like the idea. I’m still struggling with it from a financial perspective.
“Is this a business we should even be in? I’m still working through my mind on it,” Trotter added. “I look forward to the information that will give me the comfort that I’m looking for to see this become a reality.”
