‘One, two, three, four, five developments’ cause traffic concerns on Howard Ave.
Ward 9 Coun. Kieran Mckenzie expressed his “frustration” Monday over yet another housing development moving forward in an area where the main collector road — Howard Avenue — is already busy and sub-par.
“So literally hundreds of families are going to be moving into just this development and it’s one of one, two, three, four, five developments moving into the Howard Avenue corridor,” he said during a council meeting where a zoning bylaw change was approved for 10 acres on the east side of Howard to allow 40 semi-detached houses and a second phase involving a multi-storey residential building.
The location is north of Cabana Road in an area of long-vacant properties undergoing a residential explosion, with hundreds of new homes on the way. Developments are moving forward with townhouses, condos and single-family homes.
But what concerns Mckenzie is that Howard — two lanes wide and lacking curbs in the stretch between Cabana and South Cameron Boulevard — is already in dire need of improvement and the addition of more residents using the road will only worsen the situation.
“It’s very challenging for me to support a development, as much as I want to support a development that could enhance the area, when I don’t see the investment on the capital side” to improve Howard, he said.
Rebuilding Howard is in the city’s eight-year capital budget and an environmental assessment — the study needed for a major project — has been completed, but city engineer Mark Winterton said the project is still in its infancy.
He said when work does happen, the Howard project will start at the South Cameron Boulevard intersection because of drainage issues and move southward to Cabana.
Mayor Drew Dilkens interjected that the timing of the project is up to council. Members could vote at budget time to move it up on the priority list.
“But I get the frustration, the EA has been done since before I was on council,” said Dilkens, who was first elected a councillor in 2006.
The zone change requested by ADE Development and Leasing Corp. for the property in the 3700 block of Howard was approved by council on Monday.