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Another 500 cars could be driving through the Carlington community daily if traffic from a new subdivision is allowed to exit onto Merivale Road, instead of Clyde or Maitland avenues.
At issue is a parcel of land located between Clyde Avenue and the new Central Park development on Merivale.
The developer -- Amresco Development -- had hoped to dump traffic from its planned 250-home community onto Clyde near Maitland. But the property suddenly became landlocked when the federal government refused to allow road access through its land near Clyde.
The government has radio equipment on the site which is sensitive to traffic vibrations. Apparently, its willing to sell the land, but only if the new owner pays to relocate the testing equipment at the facility.
The turn of events has left Amresco with no entrance or exit into is future subdivision. The only other options are to exit the traffic through a residential neighbourhood near Clyde, or onto Merivale, between Kingston Avenue and Baseline Road.
Carlington residents first learned of the access problems during a public meeting October 2, and they overwhelmingly voted down the idea of allowing more traffic into their neighbourhood. They complain that they're already accepting traffic from the 750 homes being build by Ashcroft on Merivale, and adding another 250 homes would be too much.
The developer want to use Merivale because the residents in the Maitland and Clyde areas also oppose having the subdivision exit into their community.
Local councillor Karin Howard says she'd prefer to see the traffic routed onto Maitland or Clyde. But she concedes that it may be regional government that has the final say.
"Both Maitland and Merivale are regional roads, " she told the Summit. "So, it's the region the would study traffic volumes and perhaps express a preference for where the traffic would go."
However, the city must approve the site plan before construction can begin, and Howard says there will be an opportunity for further public input at that time.
"We're at a very early stage, that's why it was so good to the get the residents here to say they don't what the traffic on their side," she noted.