The ongoing traffic along Bridge street in Bradford has been a hot topic for many years, leaving unanswered questions and frustrated business owners and drivers to fend for themselves when it comes to commuting through the town or getting in and out of plazas.
Barry Snaper, owner of the strip plaza at 121 Bridge Street, has owned the building since 1992 and has watched the traffic congestion flowing in and out of Bradford for 28 years.
“There has to be a better balancing act," states Snaper. “From day one, the traffic builds up [and] it’s impossible to turn out of that plaza… during rush-hour, you are trapped.”
The plaza is over 26,000 square feet with five tenants renting space including Global Furniture, Delf’s Martial Arts, and Savage Iron gym. Over the years, Snaper and his tenants have voiced their concerns to the Town of Bradford over the traffic directly affecting their business.
“A light would really assist them,” notes Snaper, defending his tenants. “It’s a struggle to keep paying taxes. [These are] local people who don’t have a lot of money; allow them to grow somehow with better conditions."
James Whyte, owner of Savage Iron was excited to open his first gym in Bradford but was quickly surprised when he discovered the rush hour traffic on Bridge street began affecting his client base.
“No one can get in or out," remarks Whyte. “It can take almost 30 minutes… it’s affecting membership. I feel like I’m playing a game of frogger."
Whyte notes that since opening his gym he has over 120 new members and many come from outside of Bradford, from Aurora, Richmond Hill and Vaughan. With only two ways into Bradford (the 400 highway or Bridge street), Whyte’s concerns now join with the other long-term tenants.
“I’ve seen more rear-enders since we’ve been open," shares Whyte. “You can hear the screeching from the front of our building."
Similarly, the Tim Hortons drive-through just down the street from Snaper’s plaza is also affected by the Bridge street traffic and regularly gets “backed up” at the drive-through as drivers attempt to exit left during rush hour.
“It affects us a lot,” comments General Manager Iman Abdul Wahab, who has worked with Tim Hortons for over 27 years and oversees all Tim Hortons’ in Bradford. “Lots of people won’t come here, hardly. Especially later on in the afternoon, no one comes in and no one leaves”.
Abdul Wahab notes that when the drive-through line up gets backed up, there is nothing the staff or herself can do, and sometimes drivers start honking out of anger.
“Some people don’t use that yellow turning lane either, so that makes it worse,” adds Abdul Wahab.
The Town of Bradford’s Transportation Technologist reports that in 2019, on average there are 36,500 vehicles that travel on Bridge Street during the week, with peak times being 7 a.m. - 8a.m. and 5 p.m. - 6 p.m. Weekend traffic averages around 27,500 vehicles passing through Bradford midday.
“That situation is tough to deal with,” reports Deputy Mayor James Leduc. “We have very little control mitigating the traffic on Bridge street. Until the province creates the 404 link, that’s the only traffic route to get across the lake – we are stuck."
The town of BWG’s Chief Administrative Officer Geoff McKnight states that there is a transportation master plan in place where Council has identified “reducing congestion” as one of their top priorities through a strategic planning session undertaken in the first year of their term.
The plan outlines a solution ensuring Bradford has a sufficient transportation system in place to accommodate long term growth locally and regionally, and will predict what future traffic through Bradford West Gwillimbury will look like with, and without the Highway 400-404 bypass link.
“Mayor Keffer has worked hard with our MP Carolyn Mulroney and are committed to doing EA (Environmental Assessment) updates of the route for the 404 link,” notes Leduc. “The design is moving forward as we speak with hopes to have reports in front of the province soon… we look forward to the link being built."
