Current Issues

November 2016 - Municipal Class Environmental Assessment Study Lakeshore Road West Improvements (Mississaga Road to Dorval Drive) is announced.

November 2017 - Public Information Centre Meeting - to provide residents with the preliminary preferred alternative for Lakeshore Road West improvements and to gather public input.

Coronation Park Residents Association (CPRA) responds to the preliminary preferred alternative with objections to a proposed roundabout, the degree of urbanization and fiscal responsibility.

VIEW COPY OF CPRA LETTER

On May 17, 2018 CPRA receives word a staff presentation will be made to Council's Community Services Committee on May 22 recommending adoption of the preliminary plan that includes a continuous 3rd lane for turns, the loss of 300 trees, the expropriation of property, etc.

We had never received a response to the letter we filed with the team in December 2017.

CPRA delegates at the Community Services Committee and provides a presentation that outlines:
Lakeshore Road in its present 2-lane configuration can function at an acceptable service level to 2031 and beyond, traffic forecasts show levels dropping in future, not increasing and safety records indicate 54% of the collisions occurring are in the Village of Bronte, not on the remainder of the corridor. The plan in its present form cannot be supported. It will destroy the character of Lakeshore Road West.
VIEW THE PRESENTATION IN PDF FORMAT

Councillor Cathy Duddeck, seconded by Councillor Allan Elgar, moves a motion to have staff consult with the community regarding the implications of tree preservation, property expropriation, daylight triangles and the selected locations for a centre turn lane and report back in September 2018. Kudos to Councillors Duddeck and Elgar! The motion was unanimously supported.

Councillor Duddeck mailed personalized letters to every resident along Lakeshore Road West with land marked for expropriation to alert them to the need to learn more about the proposed project.

The Ward 2 newsletter outlines the project. Announcement is made a new Public Information Meeting (PIM) will be held at Sir John Colborne Centre to allow residents to voice their concerns.

Over 50 residents attended the PIM to register their opposition to the preliminary plan. They voiced rejection of the proposed 3rd lane, identified the destruction of trees and expropriation of property as being totally unacceptable and underscored the importance of maintaining and preserving Lakeshore Road as a cultural heritage icon of Oakville.

Days before the holiday weekend, we found an entry on the Planning & Development Council Agenda for August 7 indicating staff would provide an update on the July 25 meeting. Upon reading the staff report, we felt it was necessary to clearly state the community's concerns.
Read the Staff Report. See a copy of our presentation to Council.

At a meeting of Oakville's Planning and Development Council, a unanimous vote by Council supported the following motion:

• That staff be directed to complete additional consultation on the Lakeshore Road West Improvements (Mississauga Street to Dorval Drive) Class Environmental Assessment and report back to Council in early 2019 with recommendations that include at least one option reflecting no continuous centre lane, no loss of trees and no expropriation of property, while maintaining cycle lanes and reflecting sidewalks/multiuse paths on at least one side and minimizing impervious surfaces.

CPRA provided input to the Scenic Corridor study. In part, our comments included the following:
Lakeshore Road’s character is not determined by one single factor, such as mature trees. It is a composite that includes structure, topography, vegetation and overall visual character of the road right-of-way and immediate abutting lands. This character includes ragged road edges, mixtures of bushes and trees, a roadway that meanders slightly, old bridges, creeks, open ditches, etc. While this is considered an urban road, it possesses many rural attributes that are an integral part of its character.

What We Desire:
• to conserve and protect the road’s special character, biodiversity and native habitats, cultural heritage resources, recreational opportunities and sense of place.
• to recognize and protect the specific history and visual or natural character of the road and its roadside features.
• to ensure that changes are limited to only those that are absolutely necessary and when undertaken, those changes respect context sensitive design.

Read the full submission here.

In March 2020, staff presented a report on the Scenic Corridor study. It supported the Official Plan policies:

“Scenic Corridors are recognized for their scenic value and for their natural and cultural heritage features. These important features need to be maintained or restored since they add value and contribute to the Town’s character.” Policy 5.3.10: “The scenic character of Lakeshore Road should be conserved.”


See the entire staff report here

After almost a year of inactivity and no communication to residents from the project consultants or Town staff, we were advised there would be an updated "preferred alternative" design submitted by the consultant which was followed weeks later by an invitation to an online telephone conference to receive the information. Details of the proposal can be found in the detailed Timeline section above.

Along with other residents, CPRA delegated in an online Council session in July 2021 to oppose the "Preferred Alternative" design. The information included the fact that when the Class Environmental Assessment was released on-line, residents were able to provide comments on the proposal. There were 194 responses. More than 50% specifically opposed the plan and removal of trees, whilst only 18% supported it.

It was at this meeting that staff announced it could not meet the 2018 Motion from Council to present an option that would represent no loss of trees, AND it announced the fact that the EA process has been unnecessary after the centre lane was removed from the plan …. AND YET, it continued to engage and pay the consultant for the past three years!

Yet another motion from Council came forth as detailed in the Timeline section above.

All fell quiet until 15 months later…

In August 2022, we became aware of an RFP issued by Town of Oakville staff to retain an engineering consultant to undertake 'Design and Contract Administration for the Lakeshore Road West Reconstruction".

For the period of some 15 months between Council's July 21 Motion and the time of issuing the RFP, no contact, conversations or meetings were undertaken with residents.

The Town undertook a resurfacing of Lakeshore between Third Line and Fourth Line. In doing so, it renewed the paved shoulders on either side of the road, creating what many people see as being bike lanes. The ability to provide this cycle space on each side of the road underscores our continued comments that the road is capable of being renewed WITHIN THE CURRENT CONTEXT.