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Home My WebLink AboutPD-331-90 TOWN OF NEWCASTLE *41 7 .GPA REPORT File #�� Res. # By-Law # MEETING: General Purpose and Administration Committee DATE: November 2, 1990 REPORT #: PD-331-90 FILE #: Pln 23.5 .5 and 23.5. 6 SECT: HIGHWAY 407 - ROUTE ALIGNMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT STUDY RECOMMENDATIONS: It is respectfully recommended that the General Purpose and Administration Committee recommend to Council the following: 1. THAT Report PD-331-90 be received; 2 . THAT Report PD-331-90 be endorsed as the Town of Newcastle's comments at this time with respect to he Highway 407 Route Alignment alternatives prepared by the Ministry of Transportation and their consultants; and, 3 . THAT a copy of the Report and Council's decision be forwarded to the Region of Durham Planning Department, the Ministry of Transportation and Parker Consultants . 1. BACKGROUND 1. 1 On September 4, 1990, Staff presented Report PD-260-90 to the General Purpose and Administration Committee. This report reviewed the two stages of the Ministry of Transportation's "Highway 407 Study" . The first stage was an Overview Study which determined the rationale and need for Highway 407 (between Highway 48 and Highway 35/115) . The second stage is a Route Alignment and Environmental Assessment Study, which is presently underway. REPORT NO. : PD-331-90 PAGE 2 1.2 A number of alternative alignments were previously presented to the General Purpose and Administration Committee and are attached hereto as, Attachment No. l. These alternatives are currently being evaluated by the Ministry in order to determine a technically preferred route. The evaluation to be conducted by the Ministry of Transportation includes consideration of 30 separate factors grouped as follows : i) Natural Environment Ecosystem integrity Surface water quality and quantity Fisheries Vegetation and wildlife Hydrogeology Waste management ii) Social Environment Communities Visual Aesthetics Noise iii) Economic Environment Provincial/Municipal/Private land use development considerations Non-farm commercial activities iv) Agriculture Physical resource construction Facility resource consumption Farm operation impacts Area operation impacts .. l Y REPORT NO. : PD-331-90 PAGE 3 v) Cultural Environment Historical resources Cultural landscape Archaeological resources vi) Transportation and Engineering Network configuration and traffic service Geometrics Geotechnical Staging Options Construction considerations vii) Cost Length of facility Construction Utilities Property Total cost There is no indication at this time of the relative weighting of the above factors to be considered in the assessment of the routes. 2. ALTERNATIVE ALIGNMENTS 2 . 1 Four basic alternatives have been identified through Newcastle: the South (S) alignment; the South Central (SC) alignment; the North Central (NC) Alignment; and, the North (N) alignment. All alignments basically follow the mid- concession routes and avoid existing built areas of hamlets . There are also several variations whereby one alignment crosses over into another alignment. � 6 REPORT NO. : PD-331-90 PAGE 4 2 . 1. 1 South (S) Alignment Advantages: Maximizes economic/development opportunities by providing the greatest service to the present urban and industrial areas within the Town. Length of Oshawa/Newcastle Freeway would be the shortest with this alignment, hence the impact of the Oshawa/Newcastle Freeway would be lessened with this alignment. Can act as a separator for southerly urban development areas in the Town from northerly rural areas . This alignment could act as defining edge to the Oshawa Major Urban Area. As a consequence, the area between the hydro corridor to the north and the 407 alignment to the south could act as the limits to a greenlands area providing an urban separator between upper tier and lower tier communities in Oshawa. Disadvantages: Impacts prime agricultural lands (Source: Canada Land Inventory - Updated Mapping) . Least direct route for through traffic with increased length for Highway Hamlets within a half concession of South (S) Alignment: Hampton, Solina and Leskard. 0 REPORT NO. : PD-331-90 PAGE 5 2 . 1.2 South Central (SC) Alignment Advantages: Advantages are the same as those listed for the South (S) Alignment, however, the length of the Oshawa/Newcastle Freeway would be increased. Has been the route historically considered for the future Highway 407 . Disadvantages: Impacts prime agricultural lands of predominantly Class 1 soils (Source: Canada Land Inventory - Updated Mapping) . Hamlets within a half concession of South Central (SC) Alignment: Solina, Tyrone and Leskard. 2 . 1. 3 North Central (NC) Alignment Advantages: The 407 would be twined with the hydro corridor in the west of Newcastle, south of Enniskillen, creating a combined service corridor. Disadvantages: Does not serve Town as well as a southerly alignments. Further away from the bulk of the Town's population. Less economic/development opportunity. Impacts prime agricultural lands of 6 a REPORT NO. : PD-331-90 PAGE 6 predominantly Class 1 soils (Source: Canada Land Inventory) . The length of the Oshawa/Newcastle Freeway Link would be increased, hence the corresponding impacts would also be increased. Hamlets within a half concession of North Central (NC) Alignment: Enniskillen, Haydon, Tyrone and Leskard. 2 . 1.4 North (N) Alignment Advantages: Less impact on viable agricultural lands . Best service to aggregate traffic. Disadvantages: Greater impact on more environmentally sensitive lands, ie. Oak Ridges Moraine, headwaters of the west branch of the Bowmanville Creek. This forested area is considered highly sensitive (Source: Environmental Sensitivity Mapping Project - Central Lake Ontario Conservation Authority) Least accessible to the Town's population. This alignment would primarily facilitate through traffic. Least economic/development opportunity. The Oshawa/Newcastle Freeway Link would be at its greatest length with this alternative, REPORT NO. : PD-331-90 PAGE 7 hence the impacts associated with the Freeway Link would also be greater. Hamlets within a half concession of North Central (NC) Alignment: Enfield, Enniskillen and Haydon. 2 . 1.5 Other alignment alternatives were also recognized during the course of this study. All but one of these, incorporate segments of other alignments, which connect at various crossing points as seen in Attachment No. 1. The exception to these alternatives would follow the North (N) Alignment to Liberty Street and then skirt north into the Township of Manvers . This alternative would have the same disadvantages as the North (N) alignment, however, would provide even less economic/development opportunity to the Town. 3. CON MENT 3 . 1 Both the Region of Durham and the City of Oshawa have expressed a preference for the North Central (NC) Alignment. The North Central (NC) Alignment is the alignment recognized in Commissioner's Report no.90-1, "Proposed Draft Changes to the Durham Regional Official Plan for Discussion Purposes" . The Region notes that the Draft Changes to the Durham Regional Official Plan were developed with consideration given to the North Central (NC) alignment in order to maximize the opportunity to integrate Highway 407 with the Region's land use structure and to accelerate its construction and implementation in Durham. �J �.l REPORT NO. : PD-331-90 PAGE 8 The City of Oshawa argues that the North Central (NC) Alignment would maximize economic and development opportunities for the City of Oshawa and would allow for the orderly expansion of Oshawa's urban area. 3.2 Staff are reluctant to declare a position on the proposed alignments until the background studies have been undertaken by the Ministry's consultants . Environmental Assessment process should proceed without predetermination by municipal positions . At the same time, however, the strong positions taken by the Region and Oshawa are leading to such a climate. Accordingly, staff feel obliged to provide some preliminary comment on the alternatives strictly on the basis of land use and urban structure considerations . Xt must be recognized that the building of such a freeway will result in urbanization and other pressures sometimes unanticipated. (The attempts at a major land assembly north of Orono in one such manifestation) . The construction of the Highway 407 could result in pressure to ultimately urbanize all of the Town of Newcastle. 3. 3 This Department is of the opinion that the southerly alignment alternatives would provide the greatest opportunities for the Town of Newcastle. The two southerly alignments (S or SC) would provide the greatest economic/development opportunities to the Town and would best serve its population. Furthermore, the southerly alignments would reduce the length of the Oshawa/Newcastle Freeway Link through Newcastle, and thus lessen the impacts of that freeway. It would also help to ensure the least impact on the sensitive headwater areas of the Oak Ridges Moraine. } V REPORT NO. : PD-331-90 PAGE 9 3 .4 The rationale forwarded by both the City of Oshawa and the Region of Durham is premised on continued uninterrupted northerly expansion of Oshawa and Whitby urban areas over the next 30 years as shown in the Draft Changes to the Durham Regional Official Plan. This Department has expressed concern with the land use structure as shown in the Draft Changes and in particular with the Urban Structure shown for the Courtice/Oshawa/Whitby Major Urban Area. This Department has noted a concern that the regional structure as shown in the Draft Changes is: biased to expanding to the north in both Oshawa and Whitby at the expense of consideration of lands to the east in Courtice; designed with regard to municipal boundaries and without regard to examining growth alternatives on a structural basis; lacking sufficient urban separators between the existing urban areas and the new communities around Brooklin and Columbus . A more southerly alilgnment could rectify this situation as noted in the general discussion. 3 .5 It is recognized that further detailed investigations are necessary to critically evaluate impacts on the natural environment and the agricultural community prior to identifying a clearly superior alignment. From a land use perspective, however, at this time and on the basis of available information, this Department would prefer a southerly alignment. REPORT NO. : PD-331-90 PAGE 10 A final preferred alignment will be recommended by the Ministry of Transportation following the completion of the evaluation concluded in accordance with the Environmental Assessment Act. The evaluation of the various alignments is to be completed by the Ministry in early 1991. Respectfully submitted, Recommended for presentation to the Committee Franklin Wu, M.C. I.P. Lawrenc Kotseff Director of Planning Chief AL inistrative and Development Officer JB*DC*FW*df *Attach 26 October 1990 PROPOSED HIGHWAY 407 PRELIMINARY ROUTE ALTERNATIVES - MAY 1990 OSHAWAAEWCASTLE SECTION WP 326-88-01 TWP-OFMANVERS- R' 11 IX X N I_IIII II 1111111 IIIII lllllllllllll 11111111111ffI 111111111111 II IIIIIIIIIIII IIIIIIIIiI l ll�llumflif , ulll ul IIII 1111111111111 <<. 1 ENFIELD ) 116 1i I Io S / J 1511 ] 0 5 ,1 3 ]1 1 7 V III IX Moa POlt \\\ A f t Ci'TM '�' / 3Sj 3,X 33 1 32 0119 38 1 IJ i 01 �1 I9.17 10 1 15 1 0 13 113 1 11 10 9 a. 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