Fenik and BIA President John Clement say it’s a priority that Lanark County should tackle.

Fenik told Lake88 he'll press the county to take on a Perth bypass as a county road in the new term of county council after this fall’s municipal election. He said the county has agreed to charge development fees that could help cover the cost of a Perth bypass, along with funding support from the province.

“It’s become of paramount importance,” Fenik says. “The town is limited in transportation corridors.” He adds a bypass -- particularly for transport traffic -- is needed not only for traffic reasons, but for safety.

“When transport trucks use Wilson and Drummond streets,” he says, “they place an additional burden on the roads and also on the heritage homes.”

Fenik says the idea of redeveloping Wilson Street was as an aesthetically pleasing kind of entrance to Perth – "almost a boulevard type of thing." So to get the truck traffic off those roads, it’s going to extend the life of the roads, "it’s going to extend the life of the houses and it’s just going to create a more pleasant corridor for people to transverse the town.”

Transportation Minister Kathleen Wynne, in an interview with Lake88, said any bypass of a town  needs a great deal of community input because of potential impact on local businesses.

But Clement says it’s essential to eliminate downtown truck traffic. He doesn't foresee a bypass having a negative impact on downtown business.

"The bypass is something that's crucial to the Town of Perth and the downtown BIA," he says, adding it's been discussed for the past 40 years. "I think it's time that the town, the county and the province got serious about it. We hope it will be a county-budgeted and county-financed operation, because that's certainly what they did in Carleton Place."

Clement says truck traffic in downtown Perth is a serious issue. "There could be accidents," he says, "heavy loads create problems with the road system and particularly with the old stone buildings."

He adds a bypass would not be harmful to downtown core businesses.

"It's pretty strong here and I think we can hold our own with good promotion and introduction of the new Wilson Street entrance," Clement says. "It's time for a bypass and I think we should be doing it."

Fenik says he plans to discuss the bypass issue with Wynne next month.