By Alex Lambert

Staff Writer

Golden Lake – North Algona Wilberforce (NAW) council has sent a letter of concern to the Ministry of Transportation Ontario (MTO) and Dillon Consulting expressing frustration with proposed changes to the Technically Preferred Alternative (TPA) for the Lake Dore and Kokomis Road intersection in Golden Lake.

Council voiced its concerns for the contentious intersection during a May 7 meeting that revealed a collective level of irritation among the council.

Mayor James Brose addressed a letter of concern to the MTO and Dillon Consulting in late April on behalf of the township in response to the lack of correspondence on the project and transparency in the process.

“Communication regarding progress on this project has been difficult…the municipality and business owners that are being affected by the proposed changes to their business access and visibility need detailed and timely information,” he said in his letter.

His letter also says the TPA presented by the MTO and Dillon Consulting should be invalid since it was not part of the first Public Information Centre (PIC) nearly a year earlier. His letter mentions needing to resort to the local MPP for information and the public works superintendent being absent from the schedule for a meeting with Dillon Consulting in March.

Council also formally requested a meeting with the MTO, Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke MPP John Yakabuski, Dillon Consulting Limited, the Algonquins of Pikwàkanagàn First Nation (AOPFN), Chief Greg Sarazin, County of Renfrew Director of Public Works and Engineering Lee Perkins, Adrian Tomasini and business owners affected by the ordeal.

The project dates back to 2015 when the issue of the poorly designed intersection gained traction with the establishment of several gas, cigarette and cannabis businesses at Pikwakanagan, increasing traffic through Golden Lake.

Nearly a decade later, it has remained a hot spot for collisions, with high traffic, poor visibility, long delays, overlapping turning lanes and numerous private driveways within a short distance of the intersection aggravating the situation.

Dillon Consulting has held two PIC meetings to involve the community in the decision-making process for its reconstruction.

The first meeting was held nearly a year ago in June 2023 and presented a long list of evaluation criteria used to screen a longer list of alternative solutions. The proposed options included adding one or more roundabouts, traffic signals, stop control, and realigning entire street sections. The meeting also raised concerns about emergency response times, infrastructure issues and detrimental effects on businesses.

Dillon Consulting held a second PIC on April 17 to evaluate a narrowed-down list of short-listed alternatives and recommend the TPA. However, Mayor Brose and many others say they were shocked to see an entirely new alternative identified as the TPA.

Mayor Brose said a source of the displeasure was the MTO pulling a sudden switcheroo for the location of a new cul-de-sac, which was different from the previous presentation.

Despite promises from the MTO it would loop NAW council into any plans, many residents along Highway 60 were shocked to receive notices from MTO in January that they may have to surrender their properties to make room for left turn lanes.

Local businesses reacted similarly when the MTO told them they were at risk of being forcefully uprooted for the same reason.

In the MTO’s response letter, Dillon Consulting Project Manager Kevin Coulter said, “Please note that the acquisition of this property is the only change to the alternative compared to what was presented at PIC #1.”

“Well, that was a huge change!” Mayor Brose told the Leader.

“They’re trying to make out that it wasn’t a big deal, but that was huge. It was a total surprise for those of us who haven’t seen that before.”

Mayor Brose said intersection issue started during his first term when the council hoped for a simple solution like an amber light or crosswalk to make the intersection safer. Although the installation of traffic lights appear to be the preferred solution among council members, the angle of the intersection does not meet the MTO’s regulations for safe road design.

“We’re hoping to have a little more dialogue…The challenge for us is that it really does impact those businesses because Lake Dore Road and Kokomis Road is like our downtown main street,” the mayor said. “Realistically, I don’t know if anything will happen within the next five years.”