This is part two of a two-part feature looking at Gasoline Alley, a once-bustling stretch of Highway 11 between Orillia and Barrie. To read part one, click here.
Few people know Oro-Medonte's Gasoline Alley as well as Chris McKee.
The son of the founder of The Hitch House, one of the largest RV and motorhome sales operations in the province, McKee has spent a lifetime in "the alley," learning the family business from the bottom up.
“Dad started the company in 1969,” McKee said during a recent interview at the sprawling property located on the southbound side of Highway 11, halfway between Oro-Medonte Line 1 and Line 2, just outside the Barrie city limits. “When he came here, he said he felt instantly at home. He considered Barrie, Orillia and what was then just Oro, as one area.
“Over the years, we’ve become synonymous with Gasoline Alley — we’re almost a landmark,” he added.
As the longest serving business in Gasoline Alley, The Hitch House has weathered more than 50 years of change, while many of the neighbouring businesses have come and gone.
Perhaps the biggest blow to the strip came a few years ago when the location that housed a McDonald’s restaurant, gas station and go-kart track closed.
In the intervening years, the abandoned site has been vandalized and spray-painted with graffiti, the weeds and grass allowed to become overgrown and unsightly.
In an effort to reverse the decay, Oro-Medonte is moving forward with a business engagement analysis and action plan development to support business retention, expansion and attraction (BREA).
“Through the BREA, new opportunities for investment attraction may be identified, along with the barriers affecting development and what opportunities might be available for public or private partnerships,” Jennifer Whitley, the township’s economic development officer, wrote in a recent report to council.
“The information will assist and better position Oro-Medonte as a place to invest, enhancing investment readiness opportunities and better position us to support business expansion opportunities identified by current Oro-Medonte businesses," she added.
According to Whitley’s report, the “gateway” to the municipality — Gasoline Alley — is “in dire need of development/redevelopment.”
While McKee acknowledges the site a few hundred metres south of The Hitch House is an “eyesore” and needs attention, he was equally concerned about what may be under the ground.
“Not only is it an abandoned restaurant, it’s also an abandoned gas station,” he said, noting gas stations have large gas tanks buried underground which can’t be monitored 24/7.
According to the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks, soil contamination in Gasoline Alley is not an issue.
“The ministry works co-operatively with the Technical Standards and Safety Authority (TSSA) to assess environmental impacts caused by the escape of fuel from gas stations,” ministry spokesperson Gary Wheeler told BarrieToday in an email. “The ministry responds where an impact poses the likelihood of off-site environmental impairment or an adverse effect to a drinking water supply.
“The ministry is not aware of any soil contamination issues from gasoline tank leaks (in this specific area) that require ministry action,” he added.
On the other side of the highway, Lloyd Sloan says he's concerned with the lack of growth in the area.
He said he’s been helping his son with his business, Sloan Mobile Repair, for the past 10 years and there’s not been any significant change between then and now.
“The only thing that moves fast around here is the traffic,” Sloan said. “We’ve been here since ‘96 and nothing in Gasoline Alley has changed. There’s no growth.”
He said his son settled on their current location — the corner of Highway 11 and Oro-Medonte Line 1 — because of the easy access to the highway. They specialize in mobile auto repair and having the highway at their front door allows work crews to head north or south with minimal effort.
“If we’re heading north, we get on and go,” he said. “If we’re going south, we head up to Line 3 and turn around. It’s very efficient, but I know where I”m going. A lot of other people don’t.”
Sloan says the combination of a high speed limit, a lack of adequate, large-scale business signs and only one entrance to the business make it difficult for customers to visit the shop.
Sloan’s concerns are echoed by Manuel Gaspar, who owns The Rock Landscape Supply, a short jaunt north on the same side of the highway.
The Rock has been a Gasoline Alley mainstay for the past 12 years. During that time, Gaspar has watched helplessly as potential customers continue to drive past.
“We get a lot of people who come out and zip right by us,” Gaspar said. “They don’t see our sign and they have no idea of where they have to go to turn around.
“Most of them just give up,” he added.
Gaspar says potential customers have to go to Line 3 to turn around, but the off-ramp is right under the bridge and many people miss it.
“If they happen to find and take the exit to turn around, they have to go all the way back to the Penetanguishene Road exit and then turn around and try again,” he said. “It’s a nightmare.”
Even when they have their bearings straight, Gaspar says there’s still no guarantee they’ll make it into his parking lot.
“There’s no off-ramp into our place, just a driveway," he added.
To make the turn into his business, Gaspar says customers have to basically ride the shoulder until they get there.
It’s dangerous, he said, but there’s no other solution.
“We have Ministry of Transportation rules to follow and they’re pretty tight because we’re so close to the highway,” Gaspar said.
“We’re supportive of making the area more viable, but I don’t know how they’ll do it," he added.