On September 24, 2024 the City of Kawartha Lakes voted to proceed with an environmental study followed by a bridge design for a crossing over the Burnt River at Somerville Concession #3. This project is intended to allow heavy truck traffic to bypass the town of Fenelon Falls and connect from Highway 35 to Highway 121 more easily.

If built, the bridge will force the expropriation of at least four homes, and will destroy the quality of life of those who chose to settle along this section of Concession #3 and the Burnt River. The noise from engine brakes and the exhaust generated by the heavy trucks crossing the river and ascending and descending the substantial hill on the road will carry for hundreds of metres. The increased traffic will also present a very real danger to the residents of this area and the many users of the Victoria Rail Trail, which crosses Concession #3 right where trucks will be starting to accelerate uphill or will be downshifting.

This plan will also do nothing to improve the traffic situation in the town of Fenelon Falls. The traffic backups are generated mostly by cars, not trucks, and happen on weekends when we have more visitors. We also don’t know whether those visitors are heading north on Highway 121 from Fenelon Falls, so there’s no evidence they would use a bypass. And if cars are going through Fenelon Falls to shop on their way north, is it really in our best economic interest to divert them?

There is also no evidence that the planners have considered the effects of spring flooding at Concession 3, which is a yearly concern. This also seems to be a more expensive option than others, which will affect our tax bases for decades to come. 

At this point it is too late to argue with the lack of public consultation that led to this decision. At a public meeting on October 8, 2024 – where the new transportation management plan for the Kawartha Lakes was presented with the bypass as a done deal – City officials said the only way to stop this is to make our voices heard before the end of the consultation period on Oct. 25, 2024.

Signing and presenting this petition to our elected officials is a way to get our voices heard.