Jack Johnson Memorial Highway dedication will not extend to Puslinch

It looks like Puslinch will be bypassed in a proposal to dedicate Highway 6 as the Jack Johnson Memorial Highway in Wellington County.

On Aug. 12 Puslinch council reviewed correspondence from  Roger Ward, head of the Ministry of Transportation’s (MTO) West Region traffic section.

Ward wrote about a number of challenges with the original proposed southern limit of the dedication.

As proposed the dedication extends from the southern limit of the City of Guelph to the Township of Puslinch/City of Hamilton boundary. Ward stated at that edge of Guelph to Highway 401, Highway 6 is known as The Hanlon Expressway.

“There is also a section of Highway 6 that is dual numbered with Highway 401, which has already been dedicated as The Macdonald-Cartier Freeway. Finally, as you are aware, the section of Highway 6 from Highway 401 southerly is planned to be bypassed at some time in the future.”

Ward explained the original proposal “would have Highway 6 named as the Jack Johnson Memorial Highway, then the MacDonald-Cartier Freeway, then the Hanlon Expressway, then through a connecting link and finally back to the Jack Johnson Memorial Highway.”

He stated that “in addition to the confusion this will create for motorists, ministry policy for highway dedications prohibits a specific highway dedication being used more than once on the same highway within 100km.”

There is not a 100km distance between Highway 6 north of Guelph and Highway 6 south of Highway 401. The policy also does not allow for dual numbering of highways.

Ward suggested that in order to proceed with the dedication, proponents should revise the limits of the submission on Highway 6 from the north limits of the City of Guelph to Mount Forest and inform the municipalities involved of the change.

Ward added “upon approval of the dedication, the Ministry will install signs along Highway 6 denoting the Jack Johnson Memorial Highway.”

In a letter co-signed by Wellington-Halton Hills MPP Ted Arnott and Perth Wellington MPP Randy Pettapiece, the politicians acknowledge the MTO request and indicate willingness to adjust the proposal.

“While this is not what we originally submitted, we still believe that it provides appropriate recognition for Jack Johnson’s outstanding service to the people of Ontario,” their letter states.

As Puslinch councillors reviewed both documents, Mayor Dennis Lever said, “As you can see from the notes, it will bypass Puslinch in the renaming of the highway – because of the difficulty in changing the names and policies related to highways which are already named.”

 

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