Truck routes urged for West Kelowna

System aimed at keeping commercial trucks from taking shortcuts through residential neighbourhoods

A new truck route system for West Kelowna will make for quieter and safer residential neighbourhoods, city staff say.

The lifespan of roads never intended to carry heavy truck traffic will also be extended, city council was to hear last night.

As well, new regulations intended to improve driver sightlines at key intersections were expected to receive approval from council.

“The proposed amendments would give staff a more practical way to deal with sightline obstructions while minimizing the impacts to private property,” reads part of a report to council by engineering manager Rob Hillis.

Although West Kelowna was incorporated in 2008, it has never had a comprehensive policy regarding specified truck routes, which are common in other municipalities.

Without a truck route system, the operators of some heavy vehicles are taking the quickest and most direct path possible to reach a destination, regardless of the impact on a residential area, staff say.

“(Truck routes) aim to reduce shortcutting, which has been identified as a problem in the city,” Hillis says.

In addition to the provincially maintained Highway 97, only three West Kelowna streets are proposed to be 24-hour truck routes. These are Westlake between the highway and Stevens; Stevens between Westlake and Bartley; and Bartley between the highway and Stevens.

Portions of the following roads can be used by trucks between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m.: Glenrosa, Gellatly, Boucherie, Hudson, Shannon Lake and Old Okanagan.

The new regulations apply to vehicles with a gross weight of more than 13,700 kilograms, a category that includes tractor-trailers, dump trucks and cement trucks.