The West Arterial Road (Oak Park) Extension Bridge is a waste of our tax dollars.
In 2021, Brantford City Council voted not to proceed with the Oak Park Extension Bridge and committed to implementing six alternatives:
- Collaborate with Brant County to develop a joint regional transportation plan.
- Increase transit operations and level of service in the city.
- Enhance cycling and pedestrian infrastructure.
- Promote carpooling, working from home and shifting work hours.
- Improve existing intersections through updated signal timing and dedicated turn lanes.
- Improve Colborne Street West and Rest Acres Road and Brant Avenue and other north-south corridors.
Having made little progress on these promises, they have changed the name of the Oak Park Extension Bridge to the West Arterial Road Extension and are calling it the “preferred alternative.”
The City is arguing that Brantford has to prepare for increased traffic in 2051 but the world economy is rapidly changing. Automation, A.I. applied to manage traffic flow, increasing numbers of people working from home and shifting of work time schedules have led most major economists to argue that there will be less congestion of traffic in the future, not more.
The point is that the future is not what was predicted in 1981 when the plan for the Oak Park Extension Bridge was made. To invest millions of dollars into a bridge and roadway that will destroy the most beautiful green space in Brantford before it is certain that we need it is irresponsible government spending. It should be noted that a 2019 estimate of maintenance for the Oak Park Extension Bridge after it is built came in at $330,000/year. That’s another never ending increase in our taxes. It should also be noted that the bridge will be three kilometres from the intake to the Brantford water purification plant, well within the legal danger zone for roadway spills, a further potential and calamitous expense.
Any current traffic problems in the South West that the Extension Bridge is supposed to solve can be resolved by modifying already existing roadways and by introducing new business commerce into the developing South West. Both of these things are already scheduled to happen.
The city is also likely to be in court fighting “failure to disclose” charges coming from people who have purchased Oakhill Cemetery plots and buried their loved ones there. While the City claims their intention to bi-sect the cemetery with a 4 lane highway was always known, the people who purchased from them are feeling rightfully deceived, transgressed and angry. We will be paying for those lawsuits as well.
The bridge will save only 8 minutes in travel time compared to a widened Colborne Street West/ Rest Acres Road with traffic circles which is, as already stated, already planned for the future and which we will also be paying for.
The message is simple. Expand existing roadways first (including Phelp’s Road/County Road 18) and bring business and employment into the Southwest to further relieve the need for commuting. The environmental studies for the extension can be shelved for a future date if needed. Green space is vital to the life of any city. If we do it right the study will stay on the shelf indefinitely.
Please vote in a new city council this year that will not proceed as recklessly as our current City Council is now proposing.
Sincerely,
Ian Munroe
Brantford, Ontario
