Politicians and experts admit plans to transform Newmarket’s downtown core should have begun 25 years ago.

But with York Region’s seal of approval this week of the town’s aggressive and visionary official growth plan, Newmarket will finally attempt to turn an aging, congested, out-of-date Davis Drive/Yonge Street corridor into a vibrant economic growth hub.

Even if the town was forced to take action because of the province’s legislated Places To Grow Act — in which Newmarket was named as one of York Region’s four major growth centres — it is ready to embark on what Mayor Tony Van Bynen dubs as the biggest change the town will make in our lifetime.

The plans are sweeping with heavy focus on transit, including bus-only rapidways up Yonge and across Davis.

Plans that will make public transportation the more convenient way to travel around town, making residents finally park their gas-guzzling vehicles and hop on frequent and convenient buses.

Routes will be widened and streets will eventually be lined with sidewalks, trees and buildings featuring condominiums, cafes, sidewalk bistros and central public spaces.

We need an aggressive economic blueprint that turns this visionary pipe dream into reality to really make this happen.

That’s the vision and, according to York University urban studies professor Douglas Young, it’s a vision that, while long overdue, is headed in the right direction.

Considering trips to Southlake Regional Health Centre — the town’s biggest employer and an integral part of the town’s growth strategy — will increase in the next four years from 15,000 a year to 100,000, better transit can’t wait.

Intensification of the area — that will eventually stretch to Green Lane, encompass all of Yonge and include historical Main Street over a 35-year timeframe — will, literally, change the face of the Newmarket we know today.

But while the plans are aggressive and, arguably progressive, the town and the region will need more than vision and government funding to pull off this multi-million-dollar growth plan.

We need a solid business plan, one that will have developers knocking at the planning department’s door, eager to build the four, five and six-storey condominiums with streetside restaurants the town envisions will take us to 2031 and a population of 96,000.

We need an aggressive economic blueprint that turns this visionary pipe dream into reality.

The town will have to work hard with progressive companies and developers and figure out ways to entice them to open shop here.

It will have to incorporate stringent guidelines for building design to achieve the uniform look it wants. Plus, it will need to work with existing businesses and services that dot Davis today and may not want to leave.

The town has a big job on its hands, no doubt about it.

Let’s hope politicians and experts are up to the task and can steer through the many ups and downs.

As Mr. Van Bynen says, “We can’t let the little things get in the way.”

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