THUNDER BAY – In an 8-5 vote, city council approved a bylaw 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 favour of the designated truck route.
Councillors Mark Bentz, Kristen Oliver, Rajni Agarwal and Kasey Etreni and Mayor Ken Boshcoff vote against.
In September, 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.
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.
Coun. Mark Bentz motioned for the designated truck route to be referred back to administration to work with the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario, and local MPPs Kevin Holland and Lise Vaugeois to get feedback on additional safety upgrades to the Expressway before approving the truck route.
Bentz wants to see advanced warning lights at the intersection of Oliver Road and traffic signal synchronization on the Expressway.
Giertuga asked if city staff have consulted with the MTO about having advanced warning lights and traffic signal synchronization.
Kayla Dixon, commissioner of infrastructure and operations, said they had spoken with the province. The province told city staff that advanced warning lights are not required on the Thunder Bay Expressway.
Bentz’s referral was defeated 9-4 with Bentz, Oliver, Etreni and Boshcoff in favour.
Councillors Albert Aiello, Dominic Pasqualino, Trevor Giertuga, Brian Hamilton, Shelby Ch'ng, Michael Zussino, Greg Johnsen, Rajni Agarwal and Andrew Foulds voted against.
