Life has changed on Centennial Parkway
Paul Wilson
The Hamilton Spectator
(Dec 3, 2007)
Forty years ago, to mark this country's 100th birthday, they changed Highway 20 to Centennial Parkway.
Very patriotic. But Centennial has never looked much like a parkway. Strip malls, car dealers, fast food joints, a strip joint and the worst traffic in town. No rivers, no vistas, no park.
But now they've pushed a new highway through the neighbouring Red Hill Valley. It opened two weeks ago.
Everyone always said Red Hill would take the load off Centennial. Let's go see if that's true. Let's see if Centennial is starting to look parklike.
We begin up top, at the brow. This is where they scratched out a two-lane gully in the escarpment in 1929. Thirty years later, they widened it to four lanes.
And sailing down here is quite scenic, though the view ahead is steel mills. The road bends to the right, then flattens out. We cross King and pull over. This is the one spot on Centennial that still has houses on it. Let's knock on somebody's door.
Here's a nicely kept spot, a custom one-storey with big lawn. Turns out to be the home of Paul and Barbara Blake, and they have lived here since 1975.
Back then, they were new arrivals from Woodstock. They were used to lots of space and the subdivisions of Hamilton looked awfully cramped.
"I have just the place," the realtor told them. "The one drawback is that it's on Highway 20." That didn't mean a thing to the Blakes.
They loved the home, with its round dining room, 25-foot living room and orchard out back.
So they bought it. Their lawyer told them not to worry. There would be an expressway running through the Red Hill in just a few years and the traffic out their front door would soon be gone.
The decades rolled past, and so did the flatbeds hauling steel, the tankers full of fuel, transports of every kind. Barbara joined the fight for the freeway, recruited by the indefatigable Mary Wiebe, who had been on Highway 20 since 1955.
Whether it's a victory for the people or not, the Red Hill did get built. The moment it opened, the Blakes say, Centennial changed. Now the view out their front window is no longer a long line of southbound cars and trucks backed up for the lights at King. Now the Blakes can even do a left-hand turn.
But with the parkway freshly calmed, the Blakes are moving. The timing's a shame, but they've decided they need that low-maintenance condo on the West Mountain.
Due to Centennial's reputation as congestion alley, the Blakes had a tough time selling the house. But they're sure the young family moving in will be happy there now.
We push down the parkway to the Taj Restaurant, samosas and kebabs a specialty. Owner Tariq Nadeem says business is good. Customers from Burlington and St. Catharines tell him it's now a snap to get to his door.
Next, north of Barton, Tim Hortons. No problem getting a parking space here. Quiet inside, too. Gina Milroy, manager at the store for 16 years, says the change was fast. "The highway opened on the Saturday and right after that, boom." She figures their trade is down 25 per cent.
Last, on Centennial just south of the QE, we pull into the venerable 18-room Pines Motel. It goes back to the days before that centennial year.
Chandra Patel has run the place for six years. Has the new Red Hill highway had any impact on business?
"Look for yourself," she says, pointing to a deserted parking lot. The night before, she rented three rooms. At this time of year, she would have expected to fill 10.
Some motorists used to come off the QE at Centennial, spot the Pines sign and decide to bunk down for the night.
"Now nobody sees that sign," Patel says. "We noticed the difference right away. It's getting worse and worse."
Prev
Linear Mode
