Simcoe County Road 8

Simcoe County Road 8 (Canal Road) is a major arterial road and shortcut from Highway 9 in Schomberg, Ontario to Highway 11 in Bradford-West Gwillimbury, Ontario and connects the south end of Bradford, Ontario with Schomberg. The north side of the roadway is mostly wooded with a drainage canal from the Holland River to Schomberg River. The road is a single lane roadway with a solid painted median strip in the middle.

The southern end of the road terminates at Highway 9 and the north end of the road merges with Simcoe County Road 41 (Simcoe Road) towards York Regional Road 1.

Canal Road has caused widepspread controversy due to its dangerous aspects and low-standard safety features. It has even caused a group dedicated to its discussion on the website "Facebook" known as Canal Road with more than 1000 members.

Major Intersections

* Bridge Street/Yonge Street
* Simcoe Road
* - accessed by two on/off ramps on the south side
* 5th Line/Fraser Street
* Tornado Drive
* Wanda Street
* Day Street
* River Road/5th Sideroad
* Webber Road
*

History

Canal Road was created to provide farmers in the Holland Marsh with access to either end of the Marsh and to major highways. It was built on top of a dyke situated beside the drainage canal. The road was given an extremely low standard interchange with Highway 400 and was designed to accommodate the traffic coming into and out of the marsh. Motorists are forced to come to a complete stop when approaching the highway and turn right. This then turns into a merging lane where drivers are forced to accelerate very quickly.

afety concerns

Canal Road has a poor safety record. Since the road opened, 23 people have died in accidents where a vehicle has left the road and plunged into the canal. The road continues to deteriorate as the canal widens. Only a very limited number of guard rails have been installed along the canal as the land between the road and canal is very soft and unstable. Traffic on the road is growing as it serves as a shortcut to those commuting from the east on Highway 400 to Toronto

In the winter of 2006, an accident on Canal Road involving the death of a woman and her child provoked intense media attention in Ontario on the road's safety problems. Immediately people began suggestingFact|date=February 2007 and even protestingFact|date=February 2007 for the closure of the Interchange. The Ontario Ministry of Transportation refused to close the interchange with Highway 400, stating that it was vitalFact|date=February 2007, but a number of measures were implemented to improve the road's safety: nearly 50 new signs were posted along the entire length of Canal Road from Highway 9 to Highway 11, two large electronic signs were installed temporarily on both exit ramps warning drivers to be extra cautious while driving and the speed limit was reduced from 60 km/h to 50 km/h.

Other long-time residents contend that while the road is in poor condition and needs urgent repairs, its real safety problems lie in the fact that Canal Road was not intended to be a major arterial route. Originally the road was built for the rural farming community in the Holland Marsh, but with the recent rapid growth of South Simcoe and Northern York Region, many more individuals are now using the road and are unfamiliar with its many sudden, sharp turns. There have also been lingering questions about whether some of those who have crashed into the canal were speeding, not considering weather conditions, distracted while driving due to cell phones, and/or driving under the influence of alcohol. This has led some in the community to advocate for the closing of the entrance/exit ramps to Highway 400 to reduce the number of individuals using the street as a shortcut. Multiple levels of government are also considering moving the canal away from Canal Road for many reasons, including safety, lack of dredging and erosion problems (erosion is compromising the stability of the dike on which Canal Road is built, and dredging has not been completed on the canal since the 1950s).

Ontario Worst Road (OWR) Results

Due to all the safety concerns and aspects noted above, and the road's poor design. Simcoe County Road 8 was nominated in October 2007 to the Canadian Automobile Association (CAA) as Ontario Worst Road. The result came out that Simcoe County Road 8 was the 14th worst road in Ontario [cite url|url=http://www.worstroads.ca/rankings/roadfinal.asp|title=Ontario's Worst Roads Results|date=October 2007|accessdate=2008-04-23] .

Attractions

As much of the area is rural, few attractions are found along the road:

* Bradford Highlands Golf Course

ee also

* List of Simcoe County Roads
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References