Old road

Union Road is in serious disrepair. The County’s Public Works department recommends it be closed as a throughroad. The County’s Heritage Advisory Committee wants it protected as a heritage resource. Residents share a mix of views about the future of the road.

Should Union Road be protected as a part of County heritage?

The Prince Edward Heritage Advisory Committee (PEHAC) is looking to make history in the County. The group is researching the possibility of designating Union Road, the former through road from Wellington to Highway 62 north to Belleville, as a heritage resource.

Some residents of Union Road have been lobbying recently to change the status of the road, which sees an inordinate amount of through-traffic. At issue is the noise, and the safety of drivers on a road without shoulders, is often damaged by rainfall and frost heave, with deep ditches on a steep, winding curve. Designating a heritage road is possible under the Ontario Heritage Act, but it is not a common recourse. With the exception of a designated road in Welland, Ontario, most designated roads are part of heritage districts, which would also include landmarks along the road.

Union Road was once the centre of the hamlet of Mountain View. It was dissolved into Ameliasburgh long ago, although the name lives on in the RCAF airport at the road’s south entrance. Union Road sports an old church, cemetery and school that were once the heart of the tiny village. On Cannery Road, a short stretch of road which also connects Union Road to Highway 62, there is a building that was once a canning factory, part of the County’s rich canning heritage.

The County has never before designated a road as a heritage structure.

Although PEHAC members agree that designating the road as a heritage district might serve the well-preserved community better, it’s run into a snag.

In order to designate a heritage district, there must first be a study. There is one being done on Picton’s Main Street. It’s the first time such a study has been implemented.

But although the architects involved–experts in heritage designation throughout Ontario— are only charging the County a nominal fee for their services, there is no more money in the budget to start a study elsewhere. It could be years before funds would be allocated.

It could be argued that there are many roads in the County that could or should be designated. PEHAC Chair Janice Gibbons says she thinks the entire County should be designated as a heritage landscape. “This [road] perhaps has a bit more urgency to it than some of our other ones,” said committee member Gord Gibbons.

That’s because if the status of the road changes, it could have unforeseen implications. PEHAC wants to understand these before it goes much further.

“We’re really in the exploratory stage, just looking at a very historical hamlet,” said Leigh Moore, who is heading up the research on the road. “We’re just really exploring trying to find out more about the history of it.”

A recent survey of residents on Union Road revealed that most want the road kept open—some worry that closing the road will put it out of sight, weakening their ability protect its historical value.

To date, no decision has been made.