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WHITIff FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY,-FEBRUARY 24, 1988, PAGE 7 PAGE ýSEVEN, SOMELONGRANE TI*AEFC PLANNING PUEASE Last week, we carried a story about long range plans for the, widening of Highway 401 thx'ough Whitby. According to the Ministry of Transportation and Communication (MTC) this is at least ten years away, but in many ways the future of Highway 401. is the future of Whidtby. The location of exits will have a profound effeet and the time for planninig is now. Long ranigeý planning is a processa-of setting general guidelines. way in advance- and, as time passes and the need arises, gradually definiing and narrowing those generalities. 'Whitby's official plan is its long range blueprint. It in turn must coordinate with officiai plans of the Region and, in matters such as the 401, with the provincial'governnft as well. Unfortunately, our politicians approve these long range plaiis without really considering the implications., When many years down the lime they are askâ to approve a rezopiing which is in conflict with the general plan, they pay far more ttention' to the here and now than .they do to the ofciIplan dthe impact of piecemneal rezoning. Even though the widening of Hwy 401 is more than a decade away, the decisions of where the exits will be, where the over and underpasses will be and the sequence in which they will be built should be carefully considered, and once. decided should be adhered to. Unfortunately, our council takes a rather cavalier-attitude. Even though an overpass at Annes Strýeet is already part of the Town's official plan, Councillcor Bugelli is -against-it. Why? Basically the status quo - because the Henry St. bridge is there now and provides access to Iroquois Park and the Station Gallery. But we're talk ing about a policy which will only. take effect in ten to fifteen years -and whose impact will extend perhaps another twenty-five to fifty years. Whitby wil have a population at least double what'it bas now. Does the status quo stili make sense? If you look at ja map of Whitby, you will see that Cochrane St., Annes St. anfd Gordon St. (where the hospital is) aIl have the sanie N-S alignment. While. Henry St. dumps its traffic into a residential area N of Dundas, Cochrane carrnes on northward ever the CPR. tracks ahl the way to Taunton- Rd. Henry St...i prxmarily'a* residential street and in the long run it makes sensé to close it at the 401 rather than build an expensive new overpass to nowhere in particular when the 401 is widened. AcceÉ'ss to Iroquois Park can be provýided just as easily from Annes St. by rearranging the parking and front entrance (remrember we're talking fifteen or so years from now - it will probably need another major renovation by then anyway). Besides, access to the hospital is far more important and an. overpass connecting to Gordon Street may be the only thing that can breathe some life into an otherwise uphili battie for the survival of Whitby General. .1Like Henry, Annes Street is also residential - which raises some interesting questions. The Annes St. overpass bas been in the officiaI plan for several years, so, how many of the relatively new homes on that street were approved in the full knowledge that Annes might become an arterial road across the 401? Why were they approved? AdheÊence t» a sound long range plan should have prevented it. Ail too frequently our council ignores the master plan in favour of short-termi expedience. The question of trafflc flow is only an issue where it passes through residential areas. The record of council in deahing with this fundainental question is abysmal. .Although aIl streets are designated as local, collecter and arterial, and although there are general definitions for each, the implementation is piecemeal at best. There are numerous ways te discourage traffic ini residential areas but the will is neyer there. The people of Athol have been requesting stop signs. for years to slow down the trafflc but nothing bas been done. TIhe speedway on Henry Street was slowed down slightly several 1years ago by a four-way stop at Dunlop but this was done to facilitate trafflc on Dunlop, another residential street, rather than discourage traffic on Henry. Another recent case in point was a proposed traffic light at the corner of Byron and Dundas. This light was in the 1988 budget and bas been long awaited by residents of Mary and Euclid Streets who get the brunt of the traffic which uses the lights at Henry rather than get tied up in the mess at Byron. The light at Byron was quietly shelved hast year because MTC, which prvdes some of the funds, felt.that the Town had not taken "aà1i other regsonable efforts ... to resolve the traffic problems." No further effort bas been taken either te install the lights or te improve traffic at the Byron-Dundas corner. The money was spent instead on improvements at Garrard Rd. Not one of our councillors bas taken a firm stand that through traffic by definition belongs only on arterial ropds and whatever steps are necessary will be taken to discourage the use jç 1:r* lin,/11/ -/VO771E 1110/v)4V 'POP Ie'/7Y, i>o~t ot Bo~i St ~t~ok.i~ $uthWh~y.Oif C04 d WHITBY POST OFFICE, 1912 The Whitby Post office, buiît of* brown New -Brunswick sandistene, was located on the corner of Brock and Dundas Streets where the Bank of Montreal now stands, efom 1910 ta, 1956, when it moved to the corner of Dundas and Perry Streets. The fine old building was demohlished in 19i59ý Whitby residents used te set their watches by the'clock in the tewer. -Whitby Archives Photo 10 YEARS AGO from the Wednesday, February 22, 1978 edition of the WHITBY FREE ýPRESS *The Whitby Brass Band, under director Barry Elodgins, took first prilze at the Toronto Kiwanis Music Festival. *Earthmoving bas begun in a massive $1 million Whitby Harbor improvement plan. *A former member of thie Whitby Dunlops Championship hockey team of 1958, Gordon Myles, died on Feb. «13 at the age of 46. *Auto dealer Gus Brown bas received. a Select Service Award from Ge neral 'Motors 25 YEARS AGO from the Thursday, February,21, 19Ã"3 edition of the WHITBY WIKLY NEWS e The Retail Me rchants' Association wants fluorescent street lights in the downtown core. * W.W. Rankin is the 1963 president of the Whitby Chamber of Commerce. e The first annual Central Ontario Secondary School Association wrestling teurnament will be held at Anderson Collegiate on Feb. 23with at least 10 schools participating. e The Red Cross Society is attempting to set up a b.omemakers' service in Whitby. 100 YEARS AGO from the Friday, February 24, 1888 edition of the WIIITBY CHRONICLE * A father in Myrtle had to prepare his son's body for burial because his neighbors*we afraid te enter the hibuse. The*boy died of diphtheria. * Charles Hoit, aged .72, challenges any man of bis age te curl a three pair stone match, shoot pigeons or play chess with him. Best in two out of three games is the winner. The town is offering the,,Mowat Masnufacturing Company of Toronto a tax exemption -for 10 years if it will take over the old Patterson Foundry. eTown Council bas passed a bylaw requiring al dogs te be iicenced. 1' i il LLLI