By Denis Gibbons
September 1, 2016
BURLINGTON, ON
Beautiful green spaces like the Royal Botanical Gardens, LaSalle Park and Burlington Golf and Country Club once made Aldershot the prime place to live in Burlington.
The stretch of Plains Road from King Road west to the border of Hamilton actually is part of the historic Lakeshore Highway, which was the main route between Montreal and Windsor before the QEW and Hwy. 401 were built. The highway attracted a lot of holiday and Sunday afternoon drivers.
Planters along Plains Road have given what used to be a provincial highway a much more suburban look. Hasn’t slowed traffic down enough for most people – except for those who drive through the community.
You’d never know it today with the high rate of development and traffic jams on Plains Road. Some residents are even having second thoughts about staying in the area.
An Aldershot resident, who requested anonymity, said she believes the City is allowing too many multi-level dwellings along Plains Road and has decided to move to Niagara Falls.
“I don’t want to live on the Danforth like in downtown Toronto,” she said. “We don’t have the infrastructure to accommodate it.
“I think we really have to be careful what we’re doing to the lifestyle of the people of Aldershot.”
She said she has exactly 14 seconds to get into the collector lane and make a lefthand turn into her building at 396 Plains Rd. E. and traffic is often backed up in the eastbound lanes.
“The cars are all going 60 and a lot of drivers get mad,” she said.
Close to half a dozen residential developments similar to this one, Jazz on Plains Road are being developed.
Lou Battiston, who lives on Easterbrook Ave., said he is opposed to all the new apartment buildings going up on Plains Road.
“Adding stores to the bottom of these things without adequate parking is absolutely ridiculous,” he said.
However, he said the increased traffic on Plains Road is not an issue for him.
“I come from Toronto,” he said. “Burlington is still a great place to live.”
Ward 1 Councillor Rick Craven could not be reached for comment by The Bay Observer’s press time, but he has said in the past that whenever new condos are built along the Plains Road corridor senior citizens living in bungalows in Aldershot love to downsize to them.
At the same time, he said, the vacated bungalows are ideal starter homes for young families and this rejuvenates the population.
In July a committee of Burlington city council approved policy directions as guidelines on how the city will grow over the next quarter-century. Under the provincial government’s Places To Grow strategy guidelines, introduced in 2006, Burlington must boost its level of infilling to 40 per cent.
One of the main reasons is to provide adequate accommodation for an increase of immigrants.
Intensification in the portion south of the QEW is the key, since there is not much room left for residential development in north Burlington.
Two of the key areas for intensification are in Aldershot – along Plains Road, which is a major transit route, and close to the Aldershot GO station.
In addition, increased mixed use development is planned near all GO stations as GO bus and train service is extended.
Currently workers are carrying out major improvements to Plains Road East. The work includes paving, as well as new curbs, bike lanes and sidewalks in some parts of the stretch between the QEW and Shadeland Boulevard.
An early architects rendering of the ADI Station West 300 plus development in Aldershot
ADI Development Group is proposing construction of over 300 new townhouses near the corner of Waterdown Road and Masonry Court. The project called ‘Station West’ is adjacent to Burlington’s Aldershot GO Station”
Also in the works are the Breeze condos at the corner of Plains Road and Cooke Boulevard and the Affinity Condominiums at the corner of Plains Road and Filmandale Boulevard.
This article first appeared in the Bay Observer.
The Gazette has had a troubling relationship with Councillor Craven. There was a time when we met with him frequently on a confidential basis over lunches at Plucker’s on Plains Road.
There was an occasion at a Conservation Authority meeting when Craven told us that running for Mayor was not out of the question for him – that was before the 2014 election
More candidate than Craven could manage? Sandra Pupatello on a trip through town during the xxx Liberal leadership race. At the time Ward 1 Councillor Rick Craven was prepared to let the party romance him.
The publisher of the Gazette had some in depth conversations on the idea of his seeking the Liberal nomination for the Burlington seat at Queen’s Park. We convinced him at attend a meeting where he met one of the woman seeking the leadership of the party at that time. Watching Councillor Craven meeting Sandra Pupatello was something to observe.
The Gazette has always described Councillor Craven as the most effective Standing committee chair this city has; he also runs very tight meetings. He understands the Procedural manual better than any other member of council, perhaps even better than the City Clerk.
But a people person he ain’t. Thinnest skin we’ve seen
In the real world…employees are not only rated on how they technically do their job but on how they get along with others. Craven would get a zero out of 10. He is NOT a team player. In many ways…he compares to Trump!
I doubt many residents would disagree with the need for change in Aldershot. Certainly, many of the previous developments, plazas and motels were long past their prime and no longer viable businesses. While some of the new developments are attractive and well-planned many of the comments and posts indicate real concerns.
There is a serious lack of parking in front of many businesses which is a major deterrent for many shoppers. I’m dubious about the Station West development, and personally wouldn’t want to be living that close to a GO station. Many friends of mine who live in Aldershot are less than thrilled with both the type of developments that are being planned or the consultation process that preceded it. Clearly, the City has a lot of work to do to ensure that its intensification agenda addresses and allays the real concerns of residents.
Re: Walter Mulkewich’s statement “The Millennial generation is less interested in the automobile than the previous generations”….
I disagree. It is a popular misconception supported by some politicians, newspaper editors, and the cycling promoters that millennials don’t want cars. It is much more likely that it’s not a case of less interest but simply a case of not being able to afford to buy/insure/maintain an automobile. I certainly see evidence of “interest”; i.e., the young people whom I have seen grow up over 24 years on my street in Burlington have, without exception, abandoned their bicycles, driven their parents’ cars, and bought their own as soon as they could afford it.
The Bay Observer has done a great job of explain some of the history of this area and why it has evolved to what we see today.
Burlington has grown since the days Plains Rd. attracted holiday and Sunday afternoon drivers.
Today we see and area transitioning from the days of motels for the travelers passing thru to more modern developments such as the Jazz for residence that live play and add to the community.
That takes patience, determination, a strong understanding of what’s needed, a solid plan and dare I say a politician with thick skin.
Change is often difficult, particularly when it is of the scale we see in Aldershot.
Just like when the travelers stopped using Plains Road in favour of the new highways, the evolution of this area is natural, even necessary or risk being stuck in time and of little use to the generations that follow.
The Aldershot plain, nestled between the Bay and the Escarpment, with its streams and creeks, a unique history, and wonderful people who live here, was originally developed as a suburban community – as was Burlington. Burlington and the rest of the GTHA is transitioning to an urban model which will be a benefit to the taxpayer and will be more liveable for its residents. The traffic problems are a GTHA problem, with its reliance on the automobile. The Millennial generation is less interested in the automobile than the previous generations. We can hope that the urbanizing changes will encourage civic leadership and commercial enterprise to provide more walkable services and better transit with less dependance on the automobile. The traditional residential neighbourhoods of Aldershot are mostly untouched with the intensification which is along Aldershot’s main street, Plains Road – and those residential areas will continue to be a safe haven for those who live there. Yes, change is difficult for most of us to accept, but it is change that improves our community. I think that Councillor Craven and City Council should be given due credit for careful leadership in dealing with change we cannot avoid. As one long time Aldershot resident, I generally support the changes happening in Aldershot.
Turning left onto Plains Road without a light, between King and Howard, is like playing Frogger.