Esso moving into Front St. station
Also, buses get parked, beaches are clean, and Wingfield Rd. gets spruced up
The former Ultramar gas station on Front St. North across from Sharpe’s Food Market will soon reopen as an Esso station.
The new owner, Raman Arora, announced the development on Facebook. In a Messenger exchange, he told me that he hopes Esso Campbellford will open on July 19.
Arora said he’s looking to hire experienced attendants and suggested anyone interested should stop by with their resume anytime after July 9.
As I wrote on January 25, the location has been the site of a gas station for decades but its last incarnation as an Ultramar station wound up in financial trouble with RBC taking it over and hoping to recoup its $2 million mortgage. It was listed on Realtor.ca for $2.4 million.
I told Arora that I hoped he got a good deal from the bank, and he responded, “only time will tell.”
He said he hopes to learn what residents want and need from his station.
Lack of riders kills bus service
Northumberland County announced on July 3 that it is cancelling cancelled the Commuter Connect pilot service that provided bus links to the Oshawa GO Station since September 2022.
"I know for the loyal riders who depend on this shuttle bus service this will be disappointing news," said Warden Brian Ostrander. " The decision to discontinue the Commuter Connect service was not made lightly. Northumberland County launched this program as a pilot to assess the interest and demand for a regional transit service, and to evaluate the costs involved in delivering it. Unfortunately, due to low ridership numbers and the cost to subsidize the rider service, we have determined that the operation will not be sustainable beyond the pilot phase.”
In December 2023, the Northumberland Line—connecting residents between Campbellford, Brighton, Colborne, and Cobourg—was discontinued due to low ridership and high costs. At that time, county council extended the timeline to evaluate the Durham Line—the more active line—to determine if a reduced service would be more financially sustainable.
Council approved an extension of funding until 2026, pending a review of updated trends in June 2024 to confirm financial feasibility. A review continued low ridership and high costs, so council determined that the operation was no longer sustainable.
"We appreciate the support and feedback from all our riders during this pilot project," said Director of Strategic Initiatives Dan Borowec. "Ridership participation has been invaluable in understanding local transportation needs, and we will continue to investigate alternative transportation options in Northumberland County for residents, workers, and employers.”
Developing transportation infrastructure to strengthen connections between communities – along with neighbouring regional transit systems – is a key priority identified in Northumberland County’s Transportation Master Plan.
In 2022, the county partnered with Hop In Technologies, a transportation logistics provider, to coordinate the Commuter Connect pilot, scheduling weekday bus service. In addition to operating the online portal for rider ticket purchases, Hop In also coordinated bus service delivery with Community Care Northumberland to provide bus services within Northumberland, and with Eastern Charters to deliver services along the Durham route, taking passengers directly to the Oshawa GO and back again to Northumberland.
“The logistical support provided by Hop In technologies enabled us to deliver a schedule with multiple stops each day to meet the transportation needs of commuters,” adds Borowec. “We are grateful for the exceptional customer service and rider experience delivered by Community Care Northumberland and Eastern Charters. Their on-time, friendly, and reliable service delivery helped get our riders safely to where they needed to go every day.”
If you have unused rider credits you can get a full refund here.
All beaches remain clear
The three beaches in Trent Hills that are tested regularly by the Haliburton Kawartha Pine Ridge Health Unit are safe for swimming. That’s beaches on the north and south shore of the Trent River in Hastings and the Crowe Bridge Park.
As I noted last week, there was some confusion on the website about Crowe Bridge, since it showed as safe but said results were pending. Now, it simply shows as green, which means good.
Wingfield Rd. South gets new surface
One of my regular readers sent me an email this week to say that he had been returning home from Stirling and north on Wingfield Road South toward County Road 8 and was surprised to find it had been graded and paved.
He wondered if this was a good use of his taxpayer dollars.
The short answer is: The resurfacing was not paid for by him or taxpayers in Trent Hills.
Wingfield Road is the boundary between Trent Hills and Stirling Rawdon township. Neil Allanson, Manager of Roads and Urban Services, said in an email that Stirling Rawdon is responsible for Wingfield Rd. from Maple Road to Carmel Road and Trent Hills is responsible for Wingfield Road from Maple Road to County Road 38.
Allanson said the roadwork was most likely tar-and-chip, a cheaper option than pavement.
On her list of major projects for the year, Stirling Rawdon’s Chief Administrative Officer Roxanne Hearns included the resurfacing of Wingfield Road South.
Emergency Department swamped with patients
Just a few days after announcing its new permanent head of the emergency department, Campbellford Memorial Hospital had to fill its social media feeds with a notice asking people to stay away.
“Our Emergency Department is seeing a significantly high volume of patients today and wait times for non-urgent conditions will be longer than normal,” the hospital said on July 3. “We appreciate your patience and understanding as we work to ensure everyone who needs care is seen as quickly as possible.”
It will be nice to have a gas station on this side if the river. Re Wingfield Road: Downtown Stirling's main road is a mess and they pave a little used stretch of Wingfield Road???!!! Mind boggling.