Township ditches proposal for county road realignment in Lucknow

Huron-Kinloss councillors Carl Sloetjes and Jim Hanna are concerned that a story about road realignment in Lucknow failed to get the point across that the project was just a proposal, added to the end of the engineer's presentation about a drainage project at the west end of Lucknow.

At the council meeting Monday night (Feb. 13), Sloetjes said he has received a lot of “flak” about the project and stressed, “We are not purchasing the grocery store. This was just a proposal brought forward by the county engineer.”

The two councillors are referring to a story, published on-line Jan. 10, which outlined the project as proposed by Bruce County engineer Brian Knox at the Jan. 9 committee-of-the-whole meeting. The plan was to link Bruce County Road 1 north and south, by veering it through the parking lot east of the old grocery store.

The story states: “Engineer Brian Knox brought that proposal to Huron-Kinloss council at its committee-of-the-whole meeting Monday morning. The plan calls for a curved roadway built to the east of the old grocery store. County Road 1 would veer from the north onto that curve, cross Campbell Street (Bruce County Road 86) and link to County Road 1 to the south, creating a proper intersection instead of the current 'jog' in the road.

“Knox said the cost would be about $1.5-million since the township would have to purchase property from the landowner of the old store, to make the project work. However, there are potential savings because a proposed pedestrian crosswalk in the downtown core would be moved to this newly-aligned intersection, complete with traffic signals.

“He said the county would be on the hook for road work and the cost of the traffic lights, to the tune of $500,000, with the township paying the remainder.”

At the meeting, Hanna said, "I'd like to see this realignment occur. That's one of the most dangerous corners in our municipality. I would like to look at it further."

However, Monday night, Hanna grumbled that the entire project was taken out of context which is what you can expect from the media.

Clerk Sonya Watson said the township clarified, under new business, that it has no intention, at this time, to pursue purchase of the grocery store for business or road re-structuring purposes.