THUNDER BAY – The only way forward in Thunder Bay’s designated truck route “quagmire” is to reverse course, the city’s top bureaucrat says.
City manager Norm Gale told councillors Monday his administration won’t present another proposed bylaw to enact a designated truck route, after council rejected two of its previous drafts.
“We don’t have anywhere to go on any new prospective bylaw,” he said. “We have given you our best efforts, it’s been turned down by council. There’s nothing in our tickle trunk that we could bring that’s any different, that would have any chance of success.”
Rather, he said it was up to council to pick a path forward by rescinding one of two previous votes that left it in the procedural mess in the first place.
The development highlights the increasing likelihood the issue won't be resolved by the current council before the next municipal election in October of 2022.
Council voted 7-6 in 2019 to create a Designated Truck Route to steer transport traffic off of Dawson Road and Arthur Street, and onto the provincial highway network.
However, that narrow majority of support evaporated after Coun. Brian Hamilton had a change of heart, resulting in council narrowly rejecting two proposed bylaws to put the DTR into force, most recently in June of 2020.
That left the issue in limbo, with the DTR approved in principle but lacking enough votes to actually be implemented.
Coun. Trevor Giertuga put forward a motion Monday calling for an update on when administration would return with a new proposed bylaw. However, the at-large councillor consented to change the motion's wording after Gale told councillors there was no point coming back with yet another bylaw attempt.
Instead, the amended motion passed Monday calls for an update by Jan. 24 on what council can do to move forward from what Gale called a "procedural quagmire."
Council has two choices, Gale said – “rescind either your previous decision on not approving the bylaw, or your previous decision on approving the DTR… Those are your options.”
The report will only confirm what councillors already know, said several – that a motion to rescind requires a two-thirds majority and can only be brought forward by someone from the winning side, making it an uphill battle given the close split on the issue.
Giertuga expressed his frustration that council wasn’t working to enact the motion it had duly passed to create a DTR, saying those voting against the bylaw were doing so in bad faith.
“I think the majority of council are satisfied just to sit on their hands and wait until another year goes by until the next election,” he said.
In two decades on council, Giertuga said he’d never seen a ratified decision held up on a bylaw vote, something Gale confirmed was also outside of his experience.
The city has since changed its procedural rules to prevent the situation from arising.
Giertuga said the deadlock was not just embarrassing, but dangerous.
“If someone in my family got injured by a transport on Dawson Road or [Highway] 102, I… like anyone else would probably sue, because it’s something administration recommended and council has not implemented," he said.
Coun. Mark Bentz objected to Giertuga raising “hypothetical legal issues,” though city manager Norm Gale said councillors receive a confidential report within a week “with a response to [a] legal concern that was raised” about the DTR.
In 2019, city staff recommended approving the DTR, saying it could reduce accidents by redirecting 500 trucks per day from Dawson Road and more from Arthur Street, with 1,000 daily trips added to the Highway 11/17 extension that connects to the Thunder Bay Expressway/Harbour Expressway intersection.
Councillors opposing the DTR have argued that's more traffic than that route can handle.
“I’m willing to work to make those corridors [Dawson Road and Arthur Street] safer, I just have real concerns about putting that many trucks on a road system that isn’t adequate for it, which has much higher speeds and much more traffic," said Bentz on Monday. "I suspect problems will arise there as well – until it’s a proper expressway with interchanges, then I have no issue.”
The neighbouring municipalities of Oliver Paipoonge, Neebing, O’Connor and Gillies all opposed the DTR, taking issue with traffic that currently uses Dawson Road being redirected through Kakabeka Falls.
The Ontario Trucking Association and Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce also campaigned against the DTR, saying it would hurt local businesses and transportation companies, while bringing uncertain safety benefits.
Coun. Andrew Foulds expressed his disappointment in Monday's process, saying if administration knew they wouldn't implement Giertuga's motion, they should have advised him when he brought it forward.
“I’m a bit floored by what has transpired here,” he said. “Coun. Giertuga is a seasoned councillor working with the clerk’s office on language about how to get something done. I don’t know why he wasn’t counselled that administration will not be bringing back a bylaw.”
