Improvements and upgrades to Santa’s Village Road (also known as Muskoka Road 15) started this week. A smooth driving surface, enhanced safety features, improvements to drainage and a paved shoulder will be in place later this fall.
Meaningful consultation and engagement with community members guided this project over the last several years. Our community told us that we needed to meet the needs of all road users, respect property ownership, increase safety and improve the road while recognizing the speeding problem.
Coming Fall, 2022 – Reduced Speed Limit
When construction is complete later this fall, the speed limit will be reduced to 40 kilometres per hour, and a Community Safety Zone will be established along Santa’s Village Road from Wellington Street to just beyond Santa’s Village Theme Park. Roadway drainage and alignment improvements, paved shoulder, guiderail, clearly defined lanes and new pavement are all part of the new design.
These improvements are critical to ensure the safety and longevity of the road and to recognize the pedestrian and cyclists travelling in the area. The District would like to sincerely thank property owners, residents and community members involved in the consultation over the years.
The road’s namesake, Santa’s Village Road, leads to one of the busiest tourist destinations in Muskoka. Santa’s Village Theme Park will be working alongside the District on this project to install a private service to support their increased visitors – this will be accomplished alongside the work needed to repair and upgrade the road. Doing this at the same time will avoid the need to dig up the road in the future and disrupt the community again.
Follow Santa
Santa’s Village Road is encouraged for local traffic only this season. Portions of Santa’s Village Road will be reduced to a single-lane while crews are on site, resulting in increased delays. Construction work zones are busy areas that present potential hazards, usually with several work activities taking place at the same time. Our community will see temporary line paint markings along Santa’s Village Road – these refreshed lines are in place to ensure drivers can easily recognize the appropriate route through the work zone.
It is recommended that active transportation users and cyclists avoid this area due to uneven pavement and gravel sections.
To get to Santa’s Village Theme Park, visitors are encouraged to “Follow Santa” – and take an alternate route to reach their destination. Community members using boat launches in this area should also “Follow Santa” to reach locations such as the George Road public boat launch.
- To avoid Santa’s Village Road during construction, “Follow Santa”
- Take Wellington Street to Highway 118 West
- 118 West to Golden Beach Road
- Golden Beach Road to Santa’s Village Road
For project updates this season, visit the District of Muskoka’s engagement platform at www.EngageMuskoka.ca and follow the Santa’s Village Road improvement project tile.
Well it makes sense to route most of the traffic through Golden Beach Road. Other than the fact that the road surface past Patterson Kaye Lodge is a series of ruts and potholes, and I doubt whether this long neglected section will withstand the increased traffic without deteriorating completely!