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stonffville suntribune thursday oct 13 2005 7 council delays main street construction hoover park bypass to be built first by hannelore volpe staff writer stouffville motorists will have to wait another year before main street west is widened but councillors believe its for their own good fearing construction delays will only add to the already busy rush hour drives along main street council decided to stall the work until hoover park drive is turned into a southern bypass councillor rob hargrave was adamant hoover be extended from 10th line to hwy 48 before starting the main street work not doing so would lead to traffic chaos he described as suicide and unfathomable the hoover extension is expected to be complete by fall 2006 with the main street widening beginning in spring 2007 concerns about the congestion that already grips stouffvilles main thoroughfare during rush hours led councillors to alter the construction schedule widening main street to four lanes from ninth line to hwy 48 will cost more than 6 million most of it funded by development charges with about 821000 coming from the towns capital reserves instead of doing con struction in several phases as originally proposed council voted to have main street widened in one con tinuous operation from ringwood drive to ninth line once this phase is complete construction would start on the stretch of road from ringwood drive to hwy 48 council believes it should reduce the time motorists are inconvenienced by the construction zone not doing so would lead to traffic chaos he described as suicide and unfathomable traffic will be chan nelled down one side of the road at a time as construc tion takes place on the opposite side a concrete barrier would go up on the centre line the existing wide pave ment and temporary paved shoulders will allow for twoway traffic and let drivers get past cars mak ing left turnsi public works director paul whitehouse said the town is negotiating with owners of properties along main street to pur chase small pockets of land to relocate utilities storm sewers and catch basins also have to be con structed pellet gun shooting leads to charges an 18yearold stouffville man has been arrested in connection with a pellet gun shooting that left a gash in the leg of a 15- yearold boy york regional police were called to a doctors office on civic avenue because a boy was being treated for a pellet wound to the lower part of his leg the boy was walking home from school tuesday when he was shot an 18yearold stouffville man was arrest ed a few hours later at his home and a weapon was seized he has been charged with aggravated assault and various weapons charges police say the misuse of imitation firearms can cause grave injury and often lead to serious crimi nal charges anyone with further information about this incident is asked to contact york regional police at 1- 8668765423 ext 7541 crime stoppers at 1-800- 222tips or leave an anonymous tip online at wwwcrimestoppersyrca street widening plan gets mixed reviews local business people have mixed feelings about the widening of main street whitchurchstouffville chamber of commerce president helene johnson was worried about the safe ty of the ninth line and main street intersection with four lanes of traffic merging into two once construction is completed traffic is already creep and crawl after 3 pm along main street without construction she said well be having a lot of sidewalk sales duncan giles owner of giles chevrolet oldsmobile ltd said of the prospect of having the sidewalk and road closer to his business he has seen so many rearend collisions in front of his business five in one month last summer that he suggested having an ambulance ready at all times particularly once the road is widened he contacted york region officials and mayor sue sherban about the already hazardous intersection he was in favour of having hoover park drive completed before work starts on main street a move council made last week pattilynn card of pattilynn interiors is looking forward to a widened main street believing it will have benefits for local business once it is completed so many people avoid main street because they hate being stuck in traffic she said the lion of stouffville restaurant has a patio on main street it wants to keep there are only seven or eight feet between the patio and the edge of the road restaurant manager jarrod purvis said but the widening needs to be done to alleviate the crazy traffic congestion he said deborah macdonald doesnt like the idea of four lanes on main street because it might make the street a major thoroughfare for people rush ing through town to get to their des tinations shes worried much of stouffvilles smalltown atmosphere will be lost