GO talk derailed
By Chris Simon

The GO train won't be rolling into an Innisfil station anytime soon.

That's the message Innisfil mayor Brian Jackson had for the Alcona Business Association last week. The town plans to allocate $2 million for the purchase of land for a potential GO Transit station in the 2010 budget. However, that potential station site is still up for debate, he said.

"A GO train location in Innisfil is a bit complicated," said Jackson, addressing the group during a meeting at the Fork and Plate restaurant. "The town is fully responsible for the track into the GO station, the land acquisition and building the station. We pay for that out of tax dollars."

GO has already completed an environmental assessment for a station location, and had indicated the site should be located at the southwest corner of Line 5 at the rail tracks. But a developer has suggested a location at Line 6, near the John Cowan Overpass, which would become part of future construction and growth plans for the area.

"That's where (GO) thought the best location was," he said. "(But) we've had a developer come along and he'd like to take that GO train station, if it's ever built, and move it from there and build it into a complex as part of the new (proposed) Official Plan for that area."

Jackson says he will be asking council to investigate their GO options. That could include conducting a town survey, to find out whether residents want a station in the municipality.

"If we can't get people to use the GO train station, I'm not sure we should be building a station," he said. "I hope it's successful, there's been millions of dollars put into that track and a lot of money spent in the south end of Barrie."

Richard Ellis, president of the ABA, says a GO station could be an important economic building block for the town.

"It is providing money to your community by the transportation needs it is providing for the people who work in other areas. It's bringing the money back into your community," he said. "Areas up here might be more appealing if there is transportation."