Truck drivers and carriers take note, a designated truck route takes effect in Thunder Bay, Ont. on Oct. 1.
City council approved a bylaw earlier this week in an 8-5 vote that will bar most transport truck traffic from Highway 102, Dawson Road and Arthur Street and put them on Highway 11/17.
Councillors Albert Aiello, Dominic Pasqualino, Trevor Giertuga, Brian Hamilton, Shelby Ch’ng, Michael Zussino, Greg Johnsen and Andrew Foulds voted in favor of the designated truck route.
Councillors Mark Bentz, Kristen Oliver, Rajni Agarwal and Kasey Etreni and Mayor Ken Boshcoff voted against.
Heavy trucks will only be allowed to use Highway 11/17 when travelling, unless they are making deliveries in the area of Dawson and Arthur.
OTA expresses concern
The Ontario Trucking Association (OTA) expressed concern over the development. “It’s extremely concerning that at a time when barriers to inter-provincial trade are coming down that a key truck route that supports trade between Western and Central Canada as well as regional economies in the Thunder Bay area is being removed from the network” Geoff Wood, senior vice-president policy, OTA, said in a news release.
“Thunder Bay sits in a crucial location in the Canadian supply chain, and redundancy in our highway network is necessary. The supply chain loses those options with council’s decision, and we are hopeful there are no unintended consequences.”
Trucks in residential areas
Aielllo, whose ward is predominantly affected by the truck traffic, explained that heavy truck traffic is not strictly contained on Highway 102.
He said he gets phone calls from constituents living on Wardrope Avenue, Onion Lake Road, Hilldale Road, Melbourne Road and Valley Street.
“The issue is that these truckers missed the turn onto 102. Travel down the highway. The GPS tells them, turn right and now they’re driving through these residential streets, often causing havoc because they can’t make the turn into these residential streets to try to get back to the highway,” Aielllo said.
He also said he gets phone calls about heavy trucks parked on Market Street or East Avenue because they’re going to Tim Hortons. This causes added congestion in that area because they aren’t able to turn around to return to the highway.
“So, they proceed to drive through County Park. Right by the school in residential areas, again, a lot of pictures in hand of them trying to turn around, hitting trees, hitting fences to try to turn their trucks around,” Aielllo said.
He said that Highway 11/17 and the Expressway are better engineered to support heavy truck traffic.
“That is fact, not making that up, that is fact. It’s better equipped to handle the traffic of today, and it is recommended by the experts. So, we’re not making that up. It’s a better road. We have the opportunity to make change,” Aielllo said.
With files from Clint Fleury, local journalism initiative reporter, TBnewswatch.com
