Hamilton Mountain community could be home to 80,000 new residents

A rural community on Hamilton’s east mountain near Stoney Creek, could become home to 80,000 people by 2031.

The proposed city plan to develop the area of Elfrida, a community near Rymal Rd. and Upper Centennial Pkwy., has some concerned that it could be too much, too fast.

Ward 9 Councilor-lect Brad Clark says he’s not against development but he worries the current infrastructure in the community may not be ready for it.

“We want to make sure that we are not putting negative impacts into the community and that the arterial roads can actually handle the additional traffic. At the present time, we are not there,” said Clark.

Another concern Clark has is that a lot of the rural area in Elfrida has been designated by the province as prime agricultural land.

The city held an open house Tuesday where residents had the chance to weigh in on how they would like to see development across the City of Hamilton – Elfrida, in particular, was a concern.

The city says that the population of Hamilton is expected to increase to 680,000 by 2031 and the city is looking to Elfrida to house a big portion of these new residents. The city’s research on the growth of the Elfrida area is expected to be complete by the end of next year.