Essa & Bradford Corridor Study

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Consultation has concluded

A before and after of how intensification could look along the Essa Road corridor

Essa Road and Bradford Street have been identified as an intensification area, meaning they can help Barrie achieve medium and high-density mixed-use development to meet the directions provided by the Province of Ontario.

Overview of the Essa & Bradford Corridor Study

As part of the Essa Corridor Study, the City is proposing to amend the current zoning of selected properties along Essa Road to permit mixed use development. These locations (see proposed zoning maps) include:




Feedback collection is now closed. Please refer to the project's Life Cycle for next steps.

Essa Road and Bradford Street have been identified as an intensification area, meaning they can help Barrie achieve medium and high-density mixed-use development to meet the directions provided by the Province of Ontario.

Overview of the Essa & Bradford Corridor Study

As part of the Essa Corridor Study, the City is proposing to amend the current zoning of selected properties along Essa Road to permit mixed use development. These locations (see proposed zoning maps) include:




Feedback collection is now closed. Please refer to the project's Life Cycle for next steps.

CLOSED: This discussion has concluded.
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    How will the City protect Heritage Buildings with-in these areas?

    Cathy Colebatch Asked about 2 years ago

    Hi Cathy, thank you for your question.  Maintaining the integrity of the City’s heritage buildings is important to us.  The City is preparing a Heritage Strategy to focus on conserving, protecting, enhancing and celebrating Barrie’s cultural heritage resources.  For more information please visit: www.barrie.ca/heritage

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    If we make the area from.Bradford & Dunlop to Bradford & Burton high traffic areas. How will that affect EMT services? Bradford st is the main street used to access that end of town.

    Udrinkwedrive Asked over 2 years ago

    Thanks for the important question, Udrinkwedrive! Fire and Emergency Services are critical to the health and safety of our community. Growth and intensification can pose challenges for response times, so our emergency service providers will be an important partner moving forward.  As with other infrastructure, planning for enhanced services arising from growth and development can be more easily accommodated in the context of master planning initiatives. Fire and Emergency Services already work with the Planning Department to understand where new development is occurring and where new routing, capital improvements and/or new services will be needed. Moving forward, there are also best practices and "lessons learned" from other municipalities that the City of Barrie can leverage as a way to improve response times, accessibility, and operating costs & procedures. These could potentially include solutions such as intelligent transportation systems to permit Fire and EMS to pre-empt traffic signals, dispatch software and equipment improvements, or "storefront stations" incorporated into mixed-use developments.  

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    Once a plan is made and approved , when does the city expect to commence the intensification project, and what would be the targeted completion time frame?

    Rowzay Asked over 2 years ago

    Hi Rowzay, thanks for the question! Growth and intensification is already occurring - and will be ongoing - in Barrie.  The city is expected to grow from 147,000 people and 73,000 jobs today, to 253,000 people and 129,000 jobs by 2041! Based on community feedback from engagement events and buildingbarrie.ca, as well as through study & analysis of the Essa & Bradford corridor, City Staff will present short- to long-term recommendations to Council in early 2019 to kick-start and guide mixed use development and intensification. As the City grows over time, these standards and guidelines will be implemented and monitored through the City's Development Review Process.