Cop cars, fire trucks and ambulances with sirens blaring aren't supposed to be zipping in and out of the new emergency services facility on Fairview Road, but there are still traffic concerns surrounding the project.
Tuesday night’s information session on the Barrie-Simcoe Emergency Services Campus, which is under construction on Fairview Road, provided updates on the progress of the building in the central part of the city.
Approximately two-dozen people packed into a meeting room at the Allandale Recreation Centre, located had not far from the new emergency services facility, on Tuesday night to hear city staff bring news on the construction of the area’s multi-function facility at 110 Fairview Rd.
Phase one of the facility will house Barrie police headquarters, the Barrie Fire and Emergency Services communications dispatch and the County of Simcoe Paramedics hub. It is expected to completed by 2019.
Phase two will add a Barrie fire department training facility.
The idea for one facility with three emergency services branches under one roof was to save capital costs, approximately $15 million, and cut $370,000 annually in the operations and maintenance of the current standalone facilities.
Paolo Bovolini, facilities capital project supervisor with the City of Barrie, said that while there's still a way to go yet, some of the project’s elements are winding down.
“We anticipate the two cranes that are there to be removed in the next week or two,” said Bovolini. “In order to be good neighbours, which is so important to everyone involved, we have opened multiple access points of Fairview Road and, in addition, the project team is regularly monitoring vibration levels from the construction activity to make sure they are within acceptable limits.”
Many on hand Tuesday night were concerned mainly of the added traffic congestion that will be brought in due to the emergency service vehicles coming and going from the Fairview Road site, but were assured by presenters from the city that it will not have that aspect to it. The site will be used mainly for offices, headquarters and communications.
Still, an already busy Fairview Road has longtime resident Robert Loschan wary of what is to come.
Loschan describes he and his family as some of the “originals” in the area that is neighbouring the site, having been residents since 1974.
While he can tell you the history of the neighbourhood -- it used to be owned by a farmer whose son played in the NHL and who’s wife, Eileen, is the namesake for Eileen Drive -- Loschan is not happy with how the little corner of Barrie is going to look in a few years.
“We had Tim Hortons go in when the area was just a hill and things were nice and quiet and we had the theatre where the subsidized housing is and Fairview was just a two-lane side road. Things have changed dramatically,” he said.
Loschan, who is one of the residents on the streets that are next to the facility, said he's concerned with Fairview Road as it is, let alone adding the emergency services facility.
“Fairview is such a dangerous area right now and it will only get worse after this EMS centre goes,” said Loschan. “I understand they are going to have two left lanes to get into the building, but it’s still not wide enough for all the traffic.
"You look at the bottom of the hill, where all the fast food places are, and it is a guessing game as to getting in and out of there," he added. "Once you start adding emergency vehicles into the midst, it is only going to get worse.”
An bridge over Highway 400, from Big Bay Point Road to Harvie Road, is also being built just up the street from where the emergency services facility is under construction. It's expected that the overpass will bring more vehicular traffic to the area, while also relieving congestion around the Mapleview Drive and Essa Road interchanges to the north and south.
Rick Pews, corporate facilities director for the City of Barrie, said meetings like the one on Tuesday night are crucial to keep the public up-to-date with what's happening as well to find out how the community is feeling as big projects such as this continue.
“I am glad to hear that the response has been positive and we have received some good feedback from the community,” said Pews. “There were some people here tonight who had concerns and I hope that the answers provided were able to alleviate those concerns. We work very hard to involve and engage the community because we want to be good neighbours.”
For more information on the project, click here.
