Queensway (Simcoe, Ontario)
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The Queensway is a street that is considered to be the legal name of Highway 3 within the community of Simcoe, Ontario, Canada. The westernmost limit is at the Quarter Line Road and the easternmost limit is at the Ireland Side Road that leads to the apple orchards that have been operated by generations of local farmers.
It has nationally recognizable restaurants like Boston Pizza, Dairy Queen (closed from November to April), McDonald's, Pizza Hut, and Wendy's. Burger King was once found on the Queensway but was replaced by Wendy's in the early 1990s. So far, there has been no plans by Burger King to re-establish themselves either on the Queensway or elsewhere in Simcoe. While most restaurants are accessible almost solely by automobile, the Wendy's is frequently patroned by the local high school students due to its close walking distance.
For people of leisure and business alike, the Queensway provides a means for people to quickly explore the town of Simcoe. Most transport trucks use the Queensway to deliver their cargo quickly. Local taxis are an affordable means of transportation. The Queensway has existed for as long as Highway 3 has existed and it has played a pivotal role in the growth of Simcoe and Norfolk County in the 20th and 21st centuries. A pending rural mass transit service would bring greater access to the Queensway for senior citizens and the disabled.
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[edit] Expansion and economic growth
[edit] Wal-Mart and other big box stores
The grand opening of the 110,000 square foot Wal-Mart on January 24, 2008 and the operations of the store for the next 12 months has assisted development in Simcoe and Norfolk County. New Wal-Mart employees will be housed in existing apartments and houses. Although these jobs will not involve membership in a trade union like the United Food and Commercial Workers, these new employment opportunities are expected to create stable employment for some residents. Local businesses must work hard to provide better products and services to continue to attract customers who have tried to remain loyal in spite of poor selection, hours, and services for decades. The trend of businesses in the 21st century are seeing them become fewer and larger. This makes opening big box stores in Simcoe inevitable so that people would keep their money in Norfolk County and not stimulate the economies of neighboring Brantford, Tillsonburg, or Woodstock.
[edit] Evolution throughout the 1990s and the 2000s
However, economic growth for the Queensway has not always been positive. From the early 1990s to the year 2007, the Queensway has undertaken an evolutionary process of development with the support of the former municipal council in Simcoe and the current Norfolk County council. In addition to this, the rest of Norfolk County became economically stagnant with the decline in the tobacco industry. The currently adopted County Official Plan (OP) will assist the whole county with economic development. This official plan process was started in January 2001, with the amalgamation of the lower tier municipalities into one upper level called Norfolk County. This plan was adopted by the members of the Norfolk County council and was lead by the OP Steering Committee.
[edit] The effects on conservative downtown merchants
Because of the rapid growth and construction of new stores and restaurants across the Queensway, sales from the stores along the Queensway will be transferred from other business centres throughout the county. The downtown core houses locally owned versions of Leons, The Bargain Shop, Circuit City, Home Hardware and other stores. While these stores change their names occasionally, they are still run by the same families that came to Simcoe more than 100 years ago. Pizza Pizza, being opened in the summer of 2006 is considered to be the most recent addition to the conservative downtown shopping area. The Queensway has benefitted from past decision makers whose vision is now being seen. In order to compete with the burgeoning Queensway, the downtown business area is working hard to promote and entice people to the core and are willing to work with other commercial areas to their mutual benefit. Developers are interested in property throughout the county as well.
[edit] The inevitability of mass transit in Norfolk County
The downtown core initially proposed a limited commercially operated public transit system to bring people from the outlying areas to all business areas. Council has now recommended further investigation of a Public Transit System as to its feasability. A public transit service would lower the amount of fossil fuels a person would waste to travel to these big box stores that are outside the Simcoe town limits. Since the entire Norfolk County has a bigger population than Woodstock, the chances of a rural mass transit system being implemented in Norfolk County would be very probable. Within 20 years, the price of land on the Queensway that is purchased for a corporate or individual-run commercial business could rise. The next Norfolk County Municipal Election will be November 2010 with Wal-Mart, rural mass transit, and the replacement of tobacco with the service industry being the three main issues in the next election.
[edit] Zoning
While some units intended for housing individuals and family units remain either on or near the street, the area has been zoned mostly commercial with little residential or industrial since the 1990s. New housing, however, is being constructed on the western fringe of the Queensway where the Norview Manor home for the elderly used to be. Advertisements appear in electronic and non-electronic forms throughout the Queensway and there are also independent restaurants and stores that are on the Queensway. For example, The Barrel serves Italian cuisine like pasta and pizza. While The Barrel has been a long lasting establishment in the town of Simcoe, the owner's daughter has ownership of a casual dining restaurant where the Dallas Steakhouse used to be.
Close to the Queensway on secondary roads and on Norfolk Street (Highway 24), industrial buildings like factories and manufacturing plants can be easily driven to. Henry H. Misner Ltd., a historic fishing company, constructed a fish factory that will process the fish after being caught in Lake Erie [1]. This factory started operation in the fall of 2007 and is expected to replace the antiquated fish plant in Port Dover.
[edit] Convenience to tourists
This street is currently friendly to privately owned vehicles. With approval, a rural mass transportation program would bring more people to the stores and restaurants to the Queensway and other business areas. This would eventually have the intended side effect of reducing Norfolk County's dependency on foreign oil. In the summertime, this road can be used to quickly access the Friendship Festival. The only road that is needed is to transfer on Norfolk Street (also known as Highway 24) at the Queensway-Norfolk Street intersection. The total distance from the westernmost point of Queensway West and the easternmost point of Queensway East is approximately 5 kilometers. Drivers using the Queensway and other areas can also find gas stations conveniently. While the Queensway is not the most dangerous street in Simcoe, it is one of the fastest travelled streets of Norfolk County.
An automobile can traverse this distance in 15 minutes while it would take around 30-45 minutes to cover the same distance by walking. Nationally recognized hotels are found on the Queensway that offer broadband Internet services and free cable television. On the western part of the Queensway, an 80-room resort is currently being constructed that is geared towards the businessmen and executives who engage in business with Toytetsu [2]. Apples and apple-related food items can also be bought from The Apple Place which is found alongside the Queensway East. The various recognizable stores currently include Canadian Tire, Zellers and Real Canadian Superstore. Other nationally renowned department stores will eventually follow Wal-Mart's footprints and bring progressive stores like EB Games and Starbucks to Simcoe. Staples Business Depot and Home Depot may be future developments as the need for skilled workers in Norfolk County may increase due to the economic expansion.
[edit] References
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