Jun 30, 2009 - 02:38 PM

By Reka Szekely

AJAX -- The Province is planning to upgrade Hwy. 401 between Ajax and Whitby including putting in a new interchange at Lakeridge Road and widening the throughway to a 12-lane express and collector highway.

The Ministry of Transportation (MTO) is currently working on the preliminary design for the upgrades between Salem Road in Ajax and Brock Street in Whitby. The government initiated the study in 2000, but put it on hold in 2002 in order to ensure it was compatible with other nearby studies, most notably the extension of Hwy. 407 in Durham. The 407 will connect to the 401 in Whitby east of Lakeridge and west of Coronation Road.

"The preliminary plan for the 407 East showed there would be an interchange at Lakeridge as well, because that's been in the plans for a long, long time," said Will MacKenzie, a spokesman for the MTO. "The tricky part was how do we have two interchanges so close together."

Generally, the ministry tries to keep two kilometres between interchanges, but that's impossible in this case. However, the Province now has precedent of similarly close interchanges and will apply the principles learned with them to this project.

The need for additional lanes is evident to commuters caught in morning and afternoon rush hours between Ajax and Whitby,

"There's a lot of growth expected in Durham Region in the next number of years. There's already a lot of congestion at the interchanges along the 401," said Mr. MacKenzie, adding Lakeridge is an important arterial road in Durham and should be connected to the highway.

Though there is no set timeline yet, Mr. MacKenzie said first the 401 will be shifted north and widened to 10 lanes and then ultimately widened to 12 lanes with both express and collector lanes.

To get public feedback on the project, the MTO held an information centre on June 25 in Whitby's Centennial Building where residents got a chance to look at maps of the proposed expansion as well as other information about the project.

Whitby residents Harold and Joan Mills said they were concerned about the Brock Street entrance and exit plan. Mr. Mills raised concerns about the Henry Street bridge.

"You'd have to replace it if the highway's going to be widened," he said.

In fact, the Ministry plans to replace the Henry Street, Lakeridge Road and Brock Street bridges to accommodate the widening.

Still, Mr. Mills expressed concern about how long it would take to move ahead with the project.

"All the planning stopped in 2000, that's nine years ago ... we're not in the final decision and planning stage now, so we're going to be 10 years and still planning."

Landowners also showed up with questions. One Ajax woman, who declined to provide her name, lives on the west side of Lakeridge Road.

"It's going to go right over our house," she said.

The woman said she was fine with her land being expropriated, but she said the current market value of it was much lower than it was years ago when the interchange was first proposed because then it wasn't part of the Greenbelt and she wants a fair price for her land.

Les and Anne Crossly live in a nearby Whitby subdivision and their home backs onto Lynde Creek. Their main concern is the potential for additional noise.

"We'll get the noise as it is today, only louder because it's closer," said Mr. Crossly.

Mr. MacKenzie said the MTO wants to hear from people like Mr. Crossly.

"If people feel they're being impacted, we definitely want to hear from them. We will work with them as much as we can, do what we can to reduce the impact," he said.

Comments would be appreciated by July 17 and can be submitted to project manager Pauline Van Roon at pauline.vanroon@ontario.ca or 416-235-4188.