Angela Gismondi
Special to Ontario Construction News
The City of Barrie is one of Canada’s fastest growing municipalities and major infrastructure projects along Mapleview Drive East, Yonge Street, McKay Road and Huronia Road are underway to provide key water and wastewater servicing needed to support new housing and employment lands.
“These four projects represent significant investments in the infrastructure needed to support growth in Barrie’s south end and their benefits extend beyond simply providing servicing capacity for new development,” said Sherry Diemert, director of infrastructure for the City of Barrie. “The Yonge Street and Mapleview Drive East projects will transform existing rural or aging road corridors into modern complete streets, with additional vehicle capacity, separated infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists, accessible transit stops, streetlighting and intersection improvements.
“The work also provides an opportunity to address existing infrastructure needs, including poor pavement condition, an undersized culvert at Hewitts Creek and stormwater management requirements, while improving connections between new neighbourhoods, Maple Ridge Secondary School, commercial areas and the broader active transportation network.”
The city’s official plan is based on the significant growth expected over the coming decades, with Barrie’s population forecast to top 298,000 and employment forecast to reach 150,000 jobs by 2051. In addition to these long-term growth forecasts, the city has pledged to facilitate the construction of 23,000 new housing units by 2031.
“From the Simcoe County Home Builders’ Association’s perspective, we’ve consistently advocated for proactive infrastructure planning and timely investment,” said Tucky. “It’s encouraging to see these projects moving forward because they will play an important role in supporting housing growth for years to come. At the end of the day, meeting housing targets requires more than builders being ready to build. It requires strong collaboration between municipalities, the development industry, and all levels of government to ensure the infrastructure is in place to support sustainable growth.”
The McKay Road East Watermain & Trunk Sanitary Sewer project on McKay Road East includes a new watermain, from east to west of Highway 400 as well as a new trunk sanitary sewer between Highway 400 and Huronia Road. The improvements were initiated after the City of Barrie Multi-Modal Active Transportation Master Plan (MMATMP) identified McKay Road East as a key transportation corridor and recommended several transportation improvements to accommodate growth.
The plan also identified Yonge Street as a key transportation corridor and recommended several improvements to accommodate growth to 2031. Upgrades include reconstruction and widening of Yonge Street (Mapleview E to Lockhart) to include five lanes, a cycle-track and a sidewalk. The project will also include reconstructing St. Paul Crescent (Mapleview E to Yonge).
The transportation master plan also identified Huronia Road as a key transportation corridor and recommended several improvements. Construction will improve underground infrastructure on Huronia Road between Lockhart and the south city limit to support current and future growth in the area. Work includes reconstructing and widening the existing two-lane roadway, adding extra-wide paved shoulders, improving stormwater drainage, replacing major culverts and installing eco-passage turtle fencing where required. The project also includes upgrading the Huronia Road and McKay Road East intersection to support left-turn movements on all approaches, as well as constructing a trunk sanitary sewer between McKay Road East and Lockhart Road and associated watermain infrastructure to support future development in the area.
In addition, major transportation upgrades are happening along Mapleview Drive East from Yonge Street to Prince William Way. The project includes widening the roadway, improving intersections, building multi-use trails and installing stormwater infrastructure.
The Mapleview, Yonge, Huronia, and McKay projects have all been accelerated, with construction underway and substantial completion targeted for Spring 2028, Diemert stated in an email to Ontario Construction News.
Projects are benefitting from over $53 million in provincial investments through the Housing Enabling Core Services and Housing Enabling Water Systems Fund grant programs.
“Funding is a key strength, with the city receiving approximately $53 million in provincial grants, including $18.5 million for the Mapleview/Yonge road improvements and $34.9 million for the Huronia/McKay servicing projects,” Diemert explained. “The city continues to work closely with its contractors to identify opportunities to optimize construction sequencing, maximize productivity and maintain project schedules while meeting funding milestone deliverables. Utility coordination will be a critical factor, as the projects require relocation and coordination with Hydro One, InnPower, Bell, Rogers, Enbridge, and municipal water, wastewater and storm infrastructure. Overall, the primary risks relate to schedule management and utility coordination rather than funding or labour availability.”
Together, these projects demonstrate how growth-related infrastructure investment can be coordinated to not only enable new housing and employment, but also improve transportation, safety, environmental resilience and long-term levels of service, said Diemert.
“The McKay Road and Huronia Road servicing projects will extend major municipal water and wastewater infrastructure into currently unserviced growth areas, enabling thousands of new housing units and supporting approximately 338 hectares of employment land,” said Diemert. “The project also takes advantage of the scale of the work to replace undersized and deteriorated culverts, improve intersections, reinstate failing road surfaces and incorporate measures such as eco-passage culverts for turtles.”
Accommodating this level of growth requires coordinated planning for land use, transportation, water, wastewater and other municipal services and infrastructure.
“Infrastructure planning and the timing of development are closely connected,” Diemert said. “New development must be supported by the municipal infrastructure and servicing capacity required to accommodate it, including roads, water, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure.”
The City coordinates municipal servicing with forecasted growth as well as long-range infrastructure and financial planning. In growth areas, the timing and phasing of development considers whether the required infrastructure can be delivered in a timely and financially viable manner, said Diemert.
“As a result, the availability and timing of key infrastructure can influence when development proceeds,” she said. “The City plans and sequences major infrastructure projects to support anticipated development while ensuring the broader municipal systems can safely and sustainably accommodate growth.”
Growth is an important factor in establishing the City’s capital infrastructure priorities. The City’s capital planning process includes projects required to support housing and employment growth and to enable new development and intensification.
“Growth requirements are considered alongside other capital planning factors, including infrastructure condition and risk, service levels, affordability, project readiness and available funding,” Diemert said. “Recent provincial housing-enabling infrastructure funding has also allowed the City to advance several key growth-enabling infrastructure projects.”
According to Sandy Tucky, CEO, Simcoe Home Builders’ Association, infrastructure projects are critical because they ensure the roads, water and wastewater capacity are in place before new homes can be built.
“One of the biggest misconceptions is that builders simply choose where and when to build,” said Tucky. “The reality is that without the necessary infrastructure in place, housing projects cannot move forward, regardless of demand. Serviced land is essential if we’re going to increase housing supply.”