It's a Friday afternoon heading into the Canada Day weekend and traffic on Highway 400 is already jammed to capacity.

Those in the know - commuters and regular cottage goers - start using Sideroad 10, Sideroad 5 and County Road 27 as an alternative.

But soon, they too, start to become congested, especially at crossroads such as
County Road 89 and Innisfil Beach Sideroad.

And that's only when cottage country traffic slows the 400 to a crawl. When a major crash forces police to close Highway 400, thousands of vehicles are diverted onto the side roads.

But so far, there's no official emergency route plan that would ease the pain for motorists by flowing traffic at crossroads.

Joanne Zisis, who just purchased Pete's Donuts at County Road 89 and Sideroad 5, has seen two collisions in the intersection in the past month.

Zisis believes traffic lights would be the best solution, but a police officer directing traffic when thousands use County Road 5 as an alternate to Highway 400 would also help.

“They definitely need something there,” she said as cars are lined up for about one kilometre on Sideroad 5 outside her restaurant. “Something has to be done about it.”

Drivers waiting to cross County Road 89 feel the same way.
One driver, using the route to avoid cottage country traffic as he commutes to Barrie, says he puts up with the clogged crossroads to avoid becoming trapped on the 400.
 

“You're just one idiot away from causing a crash and then you're stuck on the 400,” the commuter shouts from his convertible. His passenger jokes, “I think they should keep all campers and boat trailers off the 400.”

Both agree a traffic cop at the intersection would be an ideal way to keep traffic moving north.
“That would certainly do it,” the driver says.

A few seconds later, a frustrated driver stuck behind a car waiting to cross County Road 89 yells as the driver in front of him.

“They are five car lengths away from you … Come on,” he shouts, than speeds past the cautious driver after they cross 89.

Handling Highway 400 overflow is becoming a pressing issue. It's on the radar screen of local politicians, with Bradford West Gwillimbury Council and Innisfil Councillor Lynn Dollin pushing it on to the Police Services Board agenda.

Dollin, whose ward covers Cookstown, wants to see some sort of emergency route protocol that would include cops or traffic lights at crossroads.

“There really needs to be plan in place; a policy when the 400 shuts down,” she said. “If there was a good plan in place, it would stop other accidents from happening on the sideroads. Everyone needs to know what to do and where to go.”

The Police Services Board has been debating the issue. But, according to Police Board chairperson Patti Vanderdonk, overlapping jurisdictions make it a complicated issue.

Creating a Highway 400 emergency route plan would involve the Ministry of Transportation, the County of Simcoe, the towns of Innisfil and Bradford West Gwillimbury, South Simcoe Police and the OPP.

Who would pay for the essentials of a plan - policing and intersection improvements - remains the biggest issue, Vanderdonk says.

“The success of this venture requires municipal, county and provincial government's to work together and share in the costs,” she said.

In an e-mail interview, Vanderdonk addressed many of the questions surrounding an emergency route plan.

Providing police officers at key intersections would be difficult and extremely costly, she said.

“A rough estimation is approximately six to seven officers required. These officers would probably have to be called in as the regular working shift would no doubt be tied up with other duties.”

Deputy Mayor Gord Wauchope, who sits on county council, agreed providing traffic cops would be extremely expensive.

“It's not only our residents using the roads, we couldn't expected to pay all those police costs,” he said.

Traffic lights for the County Road 89 intersections is part of a Simcoe County Transportation Plan, Wauchope said.

“But that is still years and years away,” he added.

The cost of upgrading sideroads to allow them to handle an increasing amount of traffic from Highway 400 is also costly issue, Mayor Brian Jackson said.

“Those roads were downloaded to us from the county,” he said. “Perhaps, it's now time the county took them back.”

Vanderdonk said while police do attempt to divert traffic onto the sideroads, there are no immediate plans to help keep vehicles flowing through intersections during cottage country congestion or Highway 400 closures this summer.

“The Police Services Board has a keen interest in this subject. We as a Board have indicated this interest to (Innisfil and Bradford West Gwillimbury), but without a commitment from the different levels of government we are in a holding pattern,” Vanderdonk said.

 “I know that whatever problems arise South Simcoe Police will deal with it and if there is a cost for manpower and equipment we will have to explain it and allocate it in our budget.”