Thunder Bay city council approves designated truck route

Transport drivers heading through Thunder Bay, Ont., will have to soon take a very specific route when travelling through city limits.

• No fast track approval for designated truck route in Thunder Bay
• Neighbouring municipality concerned over proposed truck route through Thunder Bay, Ont.

City council approved the creation of a Designated Truck Route (DTR) through the city. The route will effectively ban transports from using Dawson Road and Arthur Street, pushing transports onto the Trans-Canada Highway and Thunder Bay Expressway.

The decision on what to do with truck traffic in the city took four hours to debate on Monday night, with council first tackling the issue of the DTR in 2014.

Much of the discussion stemmed from the pleas of neighbours to eliminate transports from Dawson Road.

"I think that's the whole issue," said Elaine Foster-Seargeant, who lives near Highway 102.

"We have roads that are designed for transports and high volume traffic, and we have a road that was designed when there were two or three transports an hour."

Foster-Seargeant said she felt for people living along Highway 11/17 as well as the village of Kakabeka Falls, where transports will now be routed. However, she said, the Trans-Canada Highway is a safer option than Highway 102.

Deputations on Monday night included a group from Santorelli's Truck Stop, which has been opposed to the change. The business at Arthur Street and Twin City Crossroad said it had concerns that the 300+ transports that travel by the business every day, will no longer do so, due to the DTR moving transports to the Harbour Expressway extention.

The question of who would pull over transports not on the DTR was a concern for many around the council table.

"We have limited resources for enforcement of this whole thing. We have major issues that need to be addressed by our police force. It is not stopping trucks," said Coun. Rebecca Johnson.

Some on council said they wanted to look after the businesses in the Twin City Crossroad area, which is actually in the neighbouring Municipality of Oliver - Paipoonge. Other area municipalities, including Conmee, O'Connor, Gillies and Neebing were also opposed to the creation of the DTR.

Concerns about moving a safety issue from Arthur Street and Dawson Road to another area, was a major issue.

Mayor Bill Mauro said he believes it's worse to make a transport stop and start for traffic lights three times on the Thunder Bay Expressway, than allowing trucks on Dawson Road.

"Going on to this road where the lights are, just in my mind I have to believe creates a worse safety problem, than when those trucks are travelling west or east on Dawson Road without the traffic lights."

A close 7-6 vote, in favour of creating the DTR won out, with one councillor noting this is a chance to force the province to take care of roads that are badly beaten up by transports, while also alleviating concerns about safety from people who live in the city.

"We have the opportunity to drastically improve the quality of life of residents on Arthur St.  and Dawson Road," said Neebing Coun. Cody Fraser.

"If we don't take advantage of this opportuntity, I truly believe we are doing a disservice to our community."