OLIVER PAIPOONGE -- Kakabeka Falls can't afford anymore truck traffic the mayor of Oliver Paipoonge says.
On Monday Thunder Bay city council voted to proceed with a plan that could see weight restrictions on Dawson Road, among other city streets. That would leave transports with no other option but to us Highway 11/17, which travels through Kakabeka Falls. The town already sees a lot of truck traffic pass through.
With a school right there on the highway, Kloosterhuis said an estimated 500 trucks a day added to the traffic is an accident waiting to happen. Adding to the municipality's concerns, Oliver Paipoonge has no jurisdiction over the highway that passes right through town.
Instead decisions are made by the Ministry of Transportation.
"Either they stop the truck traffic or they put street lights on this road," she said Thursday afternoon as more than a dozen transports drove past her in a matter of minutes.
"Theres going to be someone hurt if those trucks start going through this village," she said.
Ideally Kloosterhuis wants the city to put the brakes on its bylaw until the Shabaqua extension is completed. She admits that could take decades though.
With up to 300,000 tourists visiting Kakabeka Falls every summer, Kloosterhuis said traffic is already difficult to navigate. She's worried the added trucks would deter tourists from visiting.
"The traffic congestion is going to be unbelievable. We're going to have accidents here," she said.
"The businesses I believe will see less business. If you have that kind of truck traffic people are not going to stop here."
Kloosterhuis said she understands the benefits of the trucking industry, from the revenue generated for the province to the essential goods they bring to communities.
"They're a benefit to all of us. We just have to find a way to have the traffic stay out of the village areas," she said.
Kloosterhuis is hoping to meet with officials form Thunder Bay and the MTO soon.
