After years of advocacy by residents and elected officials alike, a traffic light will be installed at the busy Orchard Point intersection with Highway 12 next year.
As an area with heavy intensification and traffic, the traffic lights – initially slated for 2028 – will come a few years earlier following the efforts of city officials and Simcoe North MPP Jill Dunlop.
“Because of the increase in development here, the increase in the amount of traffic, it was unsafe, so I was able to go to the Minister of Transportation and talk about safety issues and how important that is for folks on the road,” Dunlop told OrilliaMatters.
“We were able to accelerate this, so construction will start in the spring or, depending on the winter situation, maybe sooner," she said.
Dunlop said the lights will come on the strength of a $3 million investment by the province.
“I'm excited about this, because typically this would be on the back of the municipality when it comes through the city like this, but I've been able to convince the province that we would pay for it,” she said.
For years, residents have raised concerns about traffic conditions in the Orchard Point area, pointing to busy Highway 12 traffic and rampant development in the neighbourhood as grounds for a traffic light in the area.
When he became mayor in 2022, Mayor Don McIsaac said a former city councillor, Frank Kehoe, gave him his file on Orchard Point, which dates back 30 years to 1994.
“This is wonderful. We've heard from the residents loud and clear that this safety issue. We'd like to thank Jill for her advocacy here on behalf of Orillia,” the mayor told OrilliaMatters.
“This is just another example of the province investing in a community for the long term, and it's well received," the mayor said. “I appreciate Jill's capability and getting it over the line and her persistence in doing so.”
