Closing driveway would drive away boat traffic: Orillia councillor
Size does matter.
At least it could if one of two driveways at the city’s boat launch parking lot is eliminated in tandem with proposed changes to .
Vehicles hauling boats of more than 30 feet in length would be hard pressed to manoeuvre the parking lot using the sole remaining entrance/exit, councillors heard this week.
That could prove a potential blow to Orillia’s tourist trade, Coun. Rob Kloostra argued.
“In doing this we are limiting who can come down to launch their boat there with a certain size,” Kloostra said.
The waterfront parking lot currently has two driveways, with the southerly driveway serving exclusively as an entry and the northerly driveway as the exit.
Staff is recommending closing the northerly portion and widening the southerly driveway to accommodate two-way traffic.
The closure would be undertaken in conjunction with a realignment of Centennial Drive in 2021/2022.
The realigned Centennial Drive would run behind French’s stand, which would become part of the park.
Shutting the north driveway avoids grading challenges that would otherwise arise, with an extension of the north entrance required to meet the newly realigned road behind the restaurant, staff added.
“If the parking lot is empty, (a boat of) greater than 30 foot is no problem,” said Stan Martinello, project engineer. “But if there is other boats at the boat launch waiting to go in or out, greater than 30-foot boats start becoming an issue.”
Closing the driveway would also result in the loss of about 10 parking spaces to accommodate traffic between the lot’s “islands” and the grassed area.
“The marinas like the bigger boats, but we still have people with large boats coming down,” Kloostra said.
The committee supported a motion that the environmental study report for the environmental assessment for the Centennial Drive-area improvements project be published based on closing the northerly driveway.
Once that report is filed with the province, a review period follows with the potential for appeals from the public.
“(The province) could recommend further study or they could recommend modifications to the design solution we came up with or other things,” said Ian Sugden, director of development services and engineering.