triple fatality and a new name

We are adding a new feature to the site: historical glimpses of the issues relating to the themes of Restore Cootes.

The dangers of the modern highway become tragically apparent with the first triple fatality on the road (later found to be a result of combining high speed and alcohol consumption);

From the May 26, 1966 Dundas Star News:

"The death of 23-year-old Jerome (Jerry) Fritesh, 196 Caroline St. S. Hamilton last Thursday afternoon...brought the death toll in the fatal car crash on Cootes Drive (Highway 102) to three...."

At the same time, the highway gets a name change to the one we now use: Cootes Drive:

"Two of our major entrances to town have been named, or are in the process of being named. Highway 8 is becoming Osler Drive; Highway 102 is becoming Cootes Drive....These are colorful, historic names for Dundas. They should be put into common use."

New name, same old problems. The contemporary situation reflects the historical:

"In an effort to cut down the speeding in the wake of the increased accident toll in this area" police set up speed radar traps on York Road and Cootes Drive. But, as one citizen caught speeding argues, "the area...[is] more of a highway than anything else. It could be inferred that the speed limit was more than 30 m.p.h."(Dundas Star, August 3, 1966)

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Binkley's Pond, gone for parking

Jacob Binkley (1806-67), great grandson of Marx [Binkley], built the handsome stone house that still stands at 54 Sanders Blvd at the head of a ravine. The house was completed in 1847 and named Lakelet Vale, as it had a little spring-fed lake at the rear. Binkley's Pond, as it was known, was used for skating, fishing, and good times. It is now the Zone 6 parking lot at McMaster University on the west side of Cootes Drive. Loreen Jerome, The Way We Were "The House that Jacob Built" Ainslie Wood/Westdale Community Association of Resident Homeowners Inc. (AWWCA) http://www.awwca.ca/articles/ Skater's on Binkley's Pond circa 1917, now a McMaster parking lot

Where did the water go? Art action in Lot M Parking

West Campus Eco-Art Project A walking activity and site activation on McMaster’s West Campus. West Campus Eco-Art Project is a project that incorporates creative walking activities and an artistic site activation connected with the West Campus Redesign Initiative at McMaster University. The initiative provides opportunities for connecting with nature through an on-line informational video, walking excursions and creative activities that deepen knowledge and experience with place in all its complexities (social history, citizen science, ecology and diversity). Focusing on the Coldwater creek valley on McMaster’s West Campus, participants will learn about the history and unique features of the area and will be invited to then engage with the site through observation, sketching and stencil-making. Stencils will be used to paint text and image on the parking lot asphalt to delineate a blue line that marks an historic water route. The project is supported by the McMaster Museum of Art (

McMaster's Parking Problem: Next Level

I'm sharing a recent article published in the Dundas Star News about McMaster's plan to build a - get this - $17-million dollar parking structure. Seventeen million. Yes, $17,000,000.00 That's a lot of money to provide temporary shelter for vehicles of people who choose to drive to campus. We will be following this closely. Here's the article. Cootes Drive six-storey McMaster University parking garage under review Variances or amendment to zoning bylaw expected to permit parking structure Craig Campbell, Dundas Star News, Friday, March 5, 2021 Zoning bylaw variances, or amendments, could be required for a planned six-storey, 567-space McMaster University parking garage west of Cootes Drive, and north of Thorndale Crescent. University spokesperson Michelle Donavon said the $17-million structure on parking lot K at Westaway Road will help ongoing efforts to re-naturalize parts of the west campus, by moving some surface parking into the structure. “These plans will increa

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