ELECTION ISSUES
PINCH POINTS: The candidate landing a seat in council will need to champion the congestion issues at a time when money for transit and infrastructure upgrades is tight.
IT’S A REFRAIN that’s familiar across the city: traffic congestion is causing chaos.
But in Ward 14, which stretches along the west Mountain, the issue is seemingly reaching a boiling point.
Ward 14 is a brand-new ward, created after councillors were forced to accept new electoral boundaries to more accurately represent the distribution of the city’s population.
The newly drawn ward — which stretches from Scenic Drive to Garth Street to the hydro corridor south of Rymal Road to Glancaster Road — is a car-heavy, population-dense territory where transit is relatively scarce and some areas don’t even have sidewalks.
Residents living along Stone Church Road say it’s often difficult to get out of their driveways. Traffic volumes are increasing, and so are accidents. The Queen Street hill — technically part of Ward 1, but connected to Garth Street — is consistently backlogged with rush-hour commuters travelling up and down the escarpment. Residents say the parking area at Cliffview Park is usually filled with vehicles as people use the nearby stairs down to the Chedoke Rail Trail.
Ward 14 also includes one of the Lincoln Alexander Parkway’s famous “pinch points” — the off-ramp to the eastbound 403, which is often clogged at rush hour.
Whoever succeeds at the ballot box on Oct. 22 will have to stickhandle these issues in an era when revenue for both transit and infrastructure upgrades is tight.
It’s also a ward where there’s been a number of endorsements among candidates during the campaign season. Candidate Robert Iszkula has endorsed fellow Ward 14 candidate Bryan Wilson “to reduce the chances of an incumbent victory.”
Meanwhile, incumbent councillor Terry Whitehead has endorsed newcomer and anti-LRT candidate Vito Sgro for mayor over his council colleague Fred Eisenberger.
Other issues affecting the ward
Area-rating “slush fund”: This area of the west Mountain was previously part of Ward 8, which is one of the wards eligible for the so-called “slush fund” generated by area rating. The fund — generated by the excess taxes that residents pay in Wards 1 through 8 based on the city’s controversial area-rating taxation system — allows councillors to spend money on projects of their choosing in their wards.
However, thanks to new ward boundaries, whoever wins the new Ward 14 will only be able to spend area-rating dollars in half the ward (which is designated as an urban area). The other half of the ward, which is designated rural and doesn’t pay some of the taxes the urban areas face, will not be eligible for dollars. It’s a confusing, delicate issue that has the potential to raise a hue and cry across the ward.
Shine Dental development: Hamilton councillors recently approved the development of a two-storey mixeduse property for the Shine Family Clinic at the corner of Upper Paradise and Scenic Drive. Despite the fact that the proposal was scaled back — the original plan for the land, was to have three residential units on the top floor and three commercial offices on the ground level — some residents remain opposed. The proposal now includes two residential units on the top floor and eliminates a proposed convenience store and patio.