Barrie councillors modify transit, curbside pickup during virtual meeting

Barrie council votes for change Aileen Doyle wraps up the events from the virtual Barrie City Council meeting on Monday.

Barrie, Ont. — Modifications to Barrie transit, new curbside pickup options and the announcement of a new addictions treatment centre in Barrie are some of the elements that came out of Barrie City Council's meeting on Monday night.

Transit changes

City council voted to alter Barrie's lowest-performing bus line, route 11. Instead of a regular line, riders will now use Barrie's Transit ON Demand app to schedule a pickup.

"With the advent of newer technologies, we can certainly have a spectrum of transit service," said Barrie Mayor Jeff Lehman.

The route remains the same, but instead of a bus stopping at every stop along the way, the driver will only pick people up at scheduled stops.

"There's a lot of savings when it comes to running the service less when it's less busy," said Lehman. "You can also run routes more efficiently because they'll finish their travel much faster because they're only going to the scheduled stops, rather than having to stop at each spot along the way."

Addiction recovery centre for women

Councillor Natalie Harris announced that Barrie would soon become home to the new Cornerstone to Recovery women's residential addictions treatment program.

"The contract is signed, the drawings are done, the money has been exchanged where it needs to go, and the opening is hopefully this July," Harris said during the announcement portion of the meeting.

The treatment facility will have 12 treatment beds and six transitional housing beds.

Back in October, city council approved a $400,000, 20-year loan for the facility. Three-million-dollars in donations have also been raised, and the centre's services will be paid for by clothing collection bins spread across the city.

Curbside pickup

Councillors also voted to make curbside pickup a little easier downtown by converting four more parking spaces into curbside pickup spots as part of the city's Downtown Curbside Pick-up Pilot Program.

Under the program, converted parking spots act as loading zones where people can park for free, for a limited time, to pick up something from a local business.

"It does seem like a small thing to do, but it makes a big difference to the local small businesses that are struggling in our downtown right now," said Councillor Keenan Aylwin.

Heritage Awards

Council also took time to recognize Barrie residents and organizations who have restored historic properties by handing out Heritage Awards. The awards for 2020 include a home on 62 William Street, a home at 113 Collier Street and Trinity Anglican Church at 24 Collier Street.

The Heritage Awards are a precursor to Barrie's Heritage Week, which takes place from Feb. 15 to 21.