Council agrees to have mayor pitch premier on starting Parkway work

Mayor Daryl Bennett will ask Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne to set aside an order from the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change for more study and allow the city to start constructing the north and south ends of The Parkway.

The vote was 6-5 in favour of the plan on Monday night.

Voting in favour were Mayor Daryl Bennett, Coun. Lesley Parnell, Coun. Dan McWilliams, Coun. Dave Haacke, Coun. Andrew Beamer and Coun. Henry Clarke.

Voting in opposition were Coun. Diane Therrien, Coun. Dean Pappas, Coun. Keith Riel, Coun. Don Vassiliadis and Coun. Gary Baldwin.

The idea is to seek the premier’s permission to start extending The Parkway now to the north and south, leaving the most controversial section of the corridor – the planned bridge over Jackson Park – in limbo.

That would get the city around a requirement for a more-detailed environmental assessment before it can extend the road. A bumpedup EA was ordered a year ago from the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change.

The plan to have the mayor approach Wynne got preliminary approval from councillors on Monday; it needs a final vote at a city council meeting (likely the next one, on Oct. 2).

Although the public gallery was packed with people on Monday, citizens were not allowed to speak.

Those are the rules, at committee of the whole meetings: citizens will be allowed to speak up at the city council meeting next week, before the final vote.

During councillors’ discussions, some clearly didn’t want The Parkway to proceed without the more-detailed EA while others thought it was OK to ask for a reconsideration.

Bennett said it was unfortunate councillors were parsing the controversial roadway plan yet again.

“We seem to always drift back into a Parkway debate when this is not about The Parkway,” Bennett said.

The mayor said the discussion was actually about allowing muchneeded development in the north end.

He said he spoke about it with Wynne this summer when she visited Peterborough - and she indicated the mayor should “bring this forward.”

Bennett also said Peterborough MPP Jeff Leal will arrange a meeting with new Environment Minister Chris Ballard, who recently replaced Glen Murray.

Although Bennett said he won’t presume the outcome of those meetings, he said he’s “skillful” at speaking with people and wants to make a case at Queen’s Park.

But Coun. Keith Riel said he can’t imagine spending millions on a Parkway extension to reduce traffic congestion that doesn’t actually exist. He said he can drive anywhere in the city 12 minutes or less.

“We don’t have a problem with traffic in the city of Peterborough,” he said, which got him applause form citizens in the gallery.

Coun. Gary Baldwin agreed there’s very little traffic congestion. He was also concerned about this idea of the mayor submitting a proposal to Wynne.

“I think if there’s any proposal, it should not come from the mayor – it should come from council,” Baldwin said.

A plan to extend The Parkway north to south across the city, along a ribbon of green space often used as a recreational trail, has been controversial for years. Citizens rejected it in a referendum during the 2003 municipal election.

Yet city council voted in 2013 to go ahead with the road extension, at a cost of $79 million. One of the most controversial parts of the plan was a bridge over Jackson Park.

That drew many opponents: more than 80 local organizations and citizens each filed appeals to the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change.

In September, Murray asked for a more-detailed environmental assessment before any extension of The Parkway can occur.

A new city staff report states that delays in building The Parkway will stall the development of new subdivisions, add to future costs and worsen traffic congestion.

It recommends that council speak directly to the Premier and ask her to allow them to start construction of the least-controversial parts of the roadway and then do more study of the Jackson Park portion of the plan.

The city staff report states that Ballard is new on the file, while Wynne knows all about the issue; that’s the reason to ask her.

Coun. Henry Clarke said it’s about time the city makes a final decision about whether to extend The Parkway.

He said it’s a good idea to have the mayor ask the Premier what she thinks: “At least we’d get an answer.”

But Pappas said the city got its answer, already: do a more-detailed environmental assessment.

“The answer we got you don’t like,” he said. “We got a judgment against us. One way or another, we’ve got to move forward.”

Coun. Dave Haacke said he didn’t see it that way: people change their minds, he said, and he saw no harm in asking for a reconsideration.

“I don’t see any issue with asking for something,” he said.

Coun. Dan McWilliams said he couldn’t believe some people think there’s no traffic congestion in the city.

“We have a crisis, is what we have at this point,” he said, to many groans and heckling in the room.

He also said he saw nothing wrong with the mayor “opening up the dialogue” with the province.

“The transportation we’ve got now is lousy at best,” he said.

Coun. Lesley Parnell agreed the city has a transportation issue; she noted that motorists are cutting through residential neighbourhoods.

“Plus, we’re stalling growth,” she said, adding that development will dry up and tradespeople will move away unless council does something.

She thinks the mayor should speak to the premier on behalf of all of council.

“It certainly doesn’t hurt to get this thing moving,” she said. “It’s costing us millions and millions of dollars, and it’s costing us growth. We need to take this step.”

But Pappas called it “undemocratic” to try to circumvent the order for a new, more-detailed EA and try to skip the public consultation process that would go with it.

Coun. Diane Therrien said the city should consider alternatives such as active transportation and transit.

The staff report says the plans to build The Parkway have been on the books since 1947, Therrien noted.

“It (the plan) is older than my parents,” she said.

The next chance for council to vote a final time on this is on Oct. 2.