Five Points

Five Points. . , Mill Road , Barrie has an unusual Five Points intersection in its historic downtown. Its origin can be traced to the survey line dividing Concessions 4 and 5 of Vespra Township. The road that developed along this line was Mill Road. It was the shortest route between Kempenfelt Bay and the mills opened in 1825 by George Oliver at Midhurst. , Bayfield Street , When the first plan of Barrie was surveyed in 1833, the section of Mill Road forming the west boundary of the town was named Bayfield Street. The surveyor had the challenge of creating a road along the curved shoreline (Dunlop Street) and an evenly spaced grid system of streets. This resulted in a four-point intersection of Dunlop, north and south Bayfield, and Clapperton streets. It also created a triangular lot bound by Clapperton, Collier, Bayfield, and Dunlop. , Making Five Points , Early settler David Edgar subdivided his 60 acres on the west side of Bayfield, outside the town limits, into building lots in 1832. Dunlop was extended west of Bayfield and the new street was named Elizabeth for his daughter. This created the fifth point of the intersection. Elizabeth was renamed Dunlop Street West in 1952. , Triangle Shape , Since the 1860s, fires from all directions have ravaged along each street, but the wide Five Points intersection has managed to halt its progress. When the building on the triangle burned in 1876, it was replaced with what became known as the Simcoe Hotel. The shape of this landmark building matches the lot, with just enough room for a narrow entrance into the intersection. It is not an ideal exit after a few drinks. , Downtown Traffic Congestion , Traffic at Five Points was a problem even for horsedrawn vehicles. With the opening of Highway 11 through Barrie in 1920 and the ever increasing use of automobiles, there were long traffic delays. On a Civic Holiday weekend in 1937, 4,000 cars per hour travelled through Five Points. The opening of the Highway 400 bypass in 1952 eased the way. , Kinzie's Run , The concept of an all-direction walk signal (pedestrian scramble intersection) at Five Points was promoted by the first mayor of the City of Barrie, Willard Kinzie, in 1959. The quick-change timing in the Walk/Don't Walk signal was a product of the fast pace at which Willard walked, nicknamed the "Kinzie Run". Barrie residents knew that a sprint in any direction was needed to get you across Five Points safely.