Restaurant patios on Mississauga’s Lakeshore Rd. could lead to more traffic problems

Mississauga | Ontario | Business | COVID | Latest News | Traffic | Transit |

By

Published October 26, 2021 at 3:43 pm

In helping restaurants recover from the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the City of Mississauga could inadvertently add to another pressing problem in the city—traffic congestion. 

Specifically, Lakeshore Rd. in the city’s south end, where several major developments planned in the coming years will bring upwards of 20,000 new residents, presents potential traffic headaches.  

Many Lakeshore Rd. and nearby restaurants have taken advantage of an amendment to the City’s Temporary Use Bylaw that allows them to keep their temporary patios up and running until Dec. 31. Additionally, they’re permitted to install temporary tents/covered areas and heating devices as part of their patios, in accordance with provincial and City regulations, to allow outdoor dining through the winter. 

The move is intended to help restaurants recover some of their financial losses brought about by the pandemic. 

But the “temporary” might not turn out to be so temporary, Mayor Bonnie Crombie hinted at recently. 

In an interview with insauga.com publisher Khaled Iwamura, Crombie acknowledged that traffic congestion on Lakeshore Rd. is a pressing matter, “…especially lately with restaurants using the parking lanes and layby lanes for patios. 

“But we all love that and it really revitalizes Port Credit with the number of patios we have open and will continue to have open, so those lanes may or may not come back,” she continued. “I’m sure those (restaurants) would like to keep those patio spaces.”  

The new Lakeview Village project in southeast Mississauga will add some 15,000 residents to the mix within the next decade or sooner while a short distance away on Lakeshore Rd., the planned Brightwater community in Port Credit will see at least 5,000 people move into the city.   

Crombie and other City officials have said several public transportation improvement initiatives are in the works to offset future traffic problems, chief among those the approved Lakeshore Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system.  

When completed in the next few years, the BRT will run for two kilometres from the Etobicoke Creek to East Ave. in Mississauga. 

Many residents believe that’s not nearly enough to offset what they expect will be traffic chaos in the years to come on Lakeshore Rd.  

insauga's Editorial Standards and Policies advertising