ROAD TO NOWHERE
Wetlands divide Ojibway
Long seen as a solution to Dominion Boulevard/Northwood Street traffic congestion, a plan to connect the west and east sides of Ojibway Street continues to be bogged down by a provincially significant wetland.
“We really have to look at the public interest here. Who takes precedence here? The public or the province?,” Ward 10 Coun. Paul Borrelli asked Monday, referring to a staff report that explained the complex issues surrounding Ojibway Street and the South Cameron Woodlot. Ojibway runs from Dominion to Mark Avenue and then stops at the woodlot for about two blocks before continuing west. The road has long been seen as a possible relief valve for congestion problems in the area, if the two sides could be connected. But the report explains the very strict rules that prevent provincially significant wetlands from being altered.
The city could hire a qualified wetland evaluator to examine the area, the report suggests. And if it was determined the wetland isn’t significant, the evidence could be presented to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry for a final determination. Then the matter would proceed to an environmental assessment. Borrelli said he’s been dealing with this issue since he was elected four years ago.
“The public interest arises from the congestion on Northwood and the development in that area that’s been so great for the last four to five years,” Borrelli said. When he asked who takes precedence — the public or the province — city planner Thom Hunt replied: the province.
“It’s not a fast process,” Hunt said of ongoing efforts to find a way to connect Ojibway.
“I can’t promise you a timeline, but we’re committed to bringing it to ERCA (the Essex Region Conservation Authority) and MNRF and bringing it to resolution.” Because you can’t build a road in a provincially significant wetland, the city is asking that the wetland’s boundary be changed to allow for the road, he said.
The woodlot is located within a new subdivision planned in the late 1990s. But since then, legislative changes at the provincial level have prevented the area from being finished.
“What now exists is a development pattern including roads and other infrastructure such as sanitary and storm sewers that are not fully completed systems, as were planned for,” says the staff report, adding that it’s hard to say when this issue might be resolved.