FERGUS – A proposal to build the Fergus bypass adjacent to a local heritage and nature destination is no longer being considered a "viable option" to address increasing transportation volumes in the township.
Presented in a notion of motion from Coun. Bronwynne Wilton during a council meeting earlier this month, the idea to build a bridge at County Road 29 crossing to land immediately adjacent to the Pierpoint Fly Fishing Nature Reserve was originally proposed in the 2019 Transportation Master Plan as a second option for the Fergus bypass.
With much of the development planned for Fergus adjacent to Highway 6, the plan to start building a bypass around Fergus has remained in limbo as the township waits for approval from the Ministry of Transportation.
"Pierpoint is stamped (by Parks Canada), it's on the map and I really believe that working around it is the best option," said Coun. Lisa MacDonald, in support of the motion. "Because why would we do all this and spend this money to have it become a heritage park and then build a highway through it."
A former enslaved person from Africa, Richard Pierpoint was one of the earliest non-Indigenous settlers to come to Fergus and was designated as a national historic person by Parks Canada in 2020 and a plaque was installed in the park to honour him in October.
Considered a tourism destination for fly fishing and other passive recreational activities along the Grand River in the present day, the property was formerly a stopping point for Black individuals and families on their way to setting down roots in what was known as the Queen's Bush to the north, along Garafraza Road.
According to Mayor Shawn Watters, recent discussions with housing minister Paul Calandra at the ROMA conference indicated the bypass needs to take a "proper route" around residential areas in Fergus and this location is not ideal.
"It is a built-up area and it would just have the same issues as we do in the core of Fergus," said Watters. "We need to have this bypass further afield."
Isabel Buckmaster is the Local Journalism Initiative reporter for GuelphToday. LJI is a federally-funded program.
