The following is a re-print of a past column by former Advertiser columnist Stephen Thorning, who passed away on Feb. 23, 2015.
Some text has been updated to reflect changes since the original publication and any images used may not be the same as those that accompanied the original publication.
During the second half of the 1920s, Wellington undertook a massive program to rebuild and pave the major roads in the county.
Compared to the annual budget as a whole, spending on roads reached its highest level ever in those years.
By 1930 the road construction budget tickled the $400,000 mark. That sounds like small potatoes today, but was equivalent to about $16-million almost a century ago. In addition, the county spent a sizable sum on maintenance and feared it would go much higher. Those days there was no snow plowing program.
Despite the high expenditures, the tight-fisted county councillors of the 1920s refused to borrow money for road projects. What made the work possible were heavy subsidies from Queen’s Park. Howard Ferguson’s government pushed good roads as a key to a strong provincial economy.
By 1930, a handful of the busiest roads were incorporated into the provincial highway system. The county’s program paved many of the remaining ones, and replaced dozens of old bridges, mostly with reinforced concrete structures.
Residents of Elora, and motorists travelling from the north of the county, began to complain that the county road from Marden to Elora, was one of the busiest in the county, but was still a pot-holed gravel route. It had been one of the first roads in the county system, dating to the 1850s when Wellington took it over from the failing privately-owned Elora & Saugeen Road Company. In 1930 it was designated Road 58. A subsequent renumbering gave the road its current number: Road 7.
The road had originally been designated as the route for provincial Highway 9, but the Highways Department later decided to deviate east at Teviotdale, to Arthur and Orangeville. The decision created much resentment in points south, and particularly in Elora.
Reeve Udney Richardson allowed his name to stand for warden in 1930. It was no secret that he considered paving the Elora Road a top priority. He gained the position on the 18th ballot. With Richardson presiding, council approved a special committee to oversee all work on the county road system, and to consult with the Department of Highways about the creation of more provincial roads. That year, all county councillors were delegates to the Good Roads convention.
Over the next few months there were many informal meetings about county roads, and the Elora Road in particular. The southern portion fell under the jurisdiction of the Guelph Suburban Roads Commission.
Under the Suburban Roads plan, larger centres paid a portion of the costs of roads, within a certain radius of the city, that were considered to be arteries into the city. The idea behind the system was that the city benefitted from the taxes paid by the businesses that attracted traffic on those roads.
The new county committee toured all Wellington Roads in April 1930. There was general agreement that the Elora Road should be a major project for that year. Elora residents, though, wanted to be certain that it was at the top of the list. At the April County Council meeting about 60 people appeared as a delegation. Most were Elora people, but a few prominent people from adjoining townships were there as well, such as former reeve J.M. Burnett of Pilkington.
Several spoke, but T.C. Wardley, general manager of the Bissell farm implement factory, gave the main appeal. He emphasized that the road was of vital importance to farmers, manufacturers and for tourism to Elora. Wardley was an excellent public speaker, and headed Elora’s major manufacturing business. He noted that much of the county would benefit because the road was the most direct route to the north. Later the same day council voted on the project. The vote was unanimous, and the material specified would be concrete.
Over the next two days the county set a road construction budget of $387,000 for 1930. The province would provide about $185,000 in grants, and Guelph, through the Suburban Road Commission, almost $7,000. The Elora Road rebuilding and paving, at $165,000, claimed the largest portion of the budget.
The Guelph Commission, with the cooperation of the county, had already paved a short portion of the Elora Road under its jurisdiction two years earlier. Richardson thought it would be foolish to leave a gravel portion. Guelph council agreed to the extra cost of paving the entire road, though Mayor Bev Robson did not like being bullied into the project. The Suburban Road Commission recommended that the city issue debentures over a four-year term to reduce the impact on the city’s ratepayers.
Things moved quickly after the April 1930 council meeting. Engineering work was completed quickly, and tenders called. McArthur Engineering of Guelph submitted the low bid, and were on the job in June, working south from Elora. The old road had entered Elora by means of two sharp turns to gain access to Victoria Street and the bridge over the Grand River. Elora council enthusiastically supported Richardson’s idea to provide a new diagonal alignment through some vacant land. Elora provided the new right-of-way to the county at no cost.
Work proceeded smoothly on the paving project through the summer. There was some inconvenience: the route was closed to through traffic, which created some inconvenience, but allowed the contractors to proceed quickly. Warden Richardson told the fall county council session on Oct., 28 that work was virtually complete, and that traffic would begin to use the road within a few days.
Guelph Mayor Bev Robson stewed all summer over the way that the Suburban Road Commission had pushed their agenda for the route. He wrote a letter that county council considered in October, expressing his displeasure at the process leading to the paving of Road 58, and his opinion of the suburban road commissions in general.
It was a foolish move by the normally astute mayor. The press had a field day with the issue, which brought Robson much unfavourable publicity. Robson’s position also surprised many people; he was an automobile dealer, and most people assumed that he would support any measure to promote better roads.
The completion of the road delighted motorists in Elora and points north. So pleased was reeve Richardson and his council that they arranged and paid for an opening ceremony and banquet to celebrate the new pavement.
Elora council invited the Deputy Minister of Highways to officiate, but he could not attend. In his place, he sent mayor Robson of Guelph. Robson had higher political ambitions and was anxious to mend some bridges after his ill-considered attack on county council and the Suburban Road system.
Elora scheduled the opening for Nov. 28, 1930. Robson, with his big smile, gregarious manner and trademark Panama hat, clipped the ribbon stretched across the road just south of the village. No one mentioned the earlier ill will between him and most of the others present, including most of county council.
From there everyone piled into cars and headed for Elora’s Oddfellows Hall for a banquet. Richardson, who was never comfortable speaking in public, asked T.C. Wardley to be chairman for the evening. Speeches and toasts followed the ample meal, which had put everyone in a good mood. In his smooth and gracious manner Wardley thanked county councillors for the warm reception given the Elora delegation the previous April, and for their work in pushing the project quickly to fulfill a long standing dream of Elora.
Art Badley proposed a toast to the county, and Udney Richardson responded as warden. Bev Robson then rose, expressing best wishes to the county from the south end of the highway. Another dozen or so people spoke or proposed toasts: several county councillors, McArthur the contractor, and Suburban Road Commissioners. Wes Ham offered greetings and best wishes from Fergus. Others suggested the paving projected be continued in 1931 on the stretch of road between Elora and Teviotdale.
After the speeches, the tables and chairs were pushed back to permit dancing, which continued into the small hours of the morning. In retrospect Elora was fortunate to have the road paved in 1930. By the end of that year it was clear that the economy was in severe depression.
With other demands on the budget, and a desire to cut expenditures to the bone, it is extremely unlikely that the paving of the Elora-Guelph Road would have been completed in 1931.
*This column was originally published in the Wellington Advertiser on Nov. 18, 2005.
