Revisit of Shakespeare Route Alternatives
The Ministry of Transportation will take a closer look at route alternatives for the Shakespeare area, north, south and through the hamlet.
A widened Highway 7&8 through Shakespeare was part of the preferred corridor presented for public review and comment in the summer of 2009. In response to comments received, the study team has developed a strategy to conduct a more detailed review of route alternatives in the Shakespeare area.
The strategy for revisiting Shakespeare-area route alternatives includes:
- Hold a facilitated Shakespeare Community Workshop on March 8, 2010 (open to all interested stakeholders) to discuss:
- Shakespeare-area issues to be considered in the planning for future Highway 7/8 traffic capacity and safety needs;
- the criteria to be used for the evaluation of route alternatives in the Shakespeare area; and
- potential new route alternatives in the Shakespeare area.
- Hold a facilitated Shakespeare Community Workshop in late March, 2010 (participants from key stakeholder groups, the municipality and randomly selected community representatives who self identified) to:
- Review / refine evaluation criteria for Shakespeare area route alternatives; and
- Review strengths and weaknesses of each route alternative and potential measures to enhance each route alternative and/or mitigate potential effects.
- Use input received at the workshop to develop both a broader range of Shakespeare area route alternatives and a refined approach for their evaluation; and present this information for review and comment at an additional public information centre (PIC 3B) to be held in Shakespeare in early Summer 2010.
- Use input received from PIC 3B to refine the route alternatives, undertake their evaluation, and present the preferred Shakespeare route alternative along with the preferred route for the entire Highway 7&8 corridor at a round of public information centres (PIC 4) to be held in Stratford, Shakespeare and New Hamburg in early December, 2010.
Three groups of highway route alternatives are being considered to meet Highway 7&8 traffic capacity and safety needs in the Shakespeare area:
- bypass route alternatives north of the existing Highway 7&8 Corridor that connect back to Highway 7&8 west and east of the hamlet:
- bypass route alternatives south of the existing Highway 7&8 Corridor that connect back to Highway 7&8 west and east of the hamlet: and
- route alternatives that involve highway widening within the existing and/or expanded Highway 7&8 Corridor (that is, making use of the existing Corridor).
For more information about the Shakespeare Community Workshops, Click here
