Thunder Bay may soon restrict heavy trucks on city streets

City councillors in Thunder Bay are scheduled to vote whether to adopt new weight restrictions for vehicles on city streets, and it's a vote that could address years of safety concerns on some thoroughfares.

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The proposed bylaw, set to be voted on Mar. 27, would mandate that vehicles driving on Thunder Bay roadways weigh no more than 15,000 kilograms. That would mainly affect some dump trucks, tractor trailers and pulp and logging trucks, said Ryan Love, the city's traffic technologist.

"There are a couple of corridors that we've brought reports to council about in trying to get traffic off those corridors," Love said, citing routes such asDawson Road, west of Highway 11-17, Arthur Street W., and Memorial Avenue.

"Some vehicles we don't necessarily think need to be on [those routes]," he said."There are houses along there, people use it for walking, cycling."

If adopted, the new rules would largely funnel heavy vehicles driving through Thunder Bay along Highway 11-17 and Highway 61. The corridor that includes Hodder Avenue south to Main Street via Water Street would also be open to overweight vehicles, as would routes between the East End and Mission Island, among a couple of others.

Routes like Dawson Road, Oliver Road and Arthur Street W. would be off-limits, under most circumstances.

New rules would replace current 'hodgepodge'

The existing bylaw is "kind of a hodgepodge," Love said.

"We've got roughly 30, 40 streets with five, six different [weight] restrictions and then streets with no restrictions at all," he said.

If council approves the bylaw change, it go into effect June 1.

That gives the citytime to work with the Ontario Ministry of Transportation to erect signs on provincially-owned highways within city limits to direct vehicles to appropriate routes, Love said. Thunder Bay police and the OPP would be responsible for enforcing the new restrictions, he added.

Other exemptions

One exemption Love noted was that, under the proposed rules, overweight vehicles needing to access a property on a restricted street would still be allowed access.

"So, a contractor [delivering] equipment, they may have a shop that's not on the [allowed] route but they'll still be able get to and from their business because that's their origin or destination," he said.

For that reason, Love said, the new rules won't completely eliminate heavy vehicles on some thoroughfares where people have raised concerns about road safety, like Dawson Road.

"It would reduce it," he said. "We do know there are gravel pits and contractors up on Dog Lake Road, so ... we understand that vehicles are going to be coming off Dog Lake Road and coming into the city from there."

Other exemptions would be made for things like road maintenance vehicles, buses, fire and garbage trucks, as well as in the event of emergency road closures or construction.