At its May 23, 2023 meeting, Huntsville council agreed with a staff recommendation to see if the District of Muskoka could pave the shoulders on Muskoka Road 3 as it conducts other work on the road.
The Town of Huntsville would be responsible for half of the cost.
“This is an opportunity for us to have some paved shoulders for walking and biking,” noted Councillor Bob Stone.
The paved shoulders for active transportation would involve two separate sections of the road. The first part would entail from Hwy. 11 to roughly around Hibberd Lane, while the second section would run from Hwy. 11 to Etwell Road, according to Huntsville Mayor Nancy Alcock.
Huntsville Deputy Mayor Dan Armour suggested that when possible, paved shoulders ought to be a regular request.
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Yes, yes, yes please. Especially to Etwell. The Vernon Loop is very popular with cyclists (approx 23km), and with no shoulders and crumbly pavement extending a foot or two toward the median on both sides, we are forced to sometimes make sudden movements to toward the center.. Good of Mr Armour to suggest this should be a given with any new road construction! For me, it’s been 30 years cycling in Muskoka now. This section is long overdue and there are still a lot more areas needing attention.
Compared to US towns with heavy tourism, Muskoka is quite embarrassing when it comes to walkability and this includes Huntsville. Go through some upstate NY town in the summer and you’ll see dozens of Pedestrian Crossing signs in the middle of the road at multiple crosswalks to slow traffic. Good luck finding a pedestrian crosswalk in Huntsville or Bala or other towns. (At least Huntsville has sidewalks). Most Muskoka towns lack protected bike trails. Really need to improve here, and quickly.
There is no point adding paved shoulders on roads because the District refuses to remove the winter sand from existing paved shoulders. Riding a bike is impossible/dangerous on sand.
It’s good to hear that our town officials are considering moving us toward the 21st century. I sure hope that the paved shoulders become a reality! Biking and walking are important activities for many people and it’s just not safe at the moment.
Sometimes you have to read something a few times. This little nugget is a gem. We (Huntsville) never took the time or made the request or bothered to have sidewalks built as the town sprawled thither and yon. Now it is felt that maybe we could have ‘paved shoulders’, so people can walk along the roads. Fair enough.
But might it be too novel a concept for us to get the potholes filled and pavement on the roads? So people an drive along them!
And I wonder why we have patrol trucks over the roads, almost daily. But there never seems to be anyone come to tend to the deficiencies. Why inspect if there is no one to do the actual work?
Just asking.
Perhaps the official plan should have the subdivisions such as those on Muskoka rd 3 connecting all the way to town with paved trails and useable green space planned in each development. Huntsville is developing with no green spaces. Stop receiving cash in leu of parks and green space.