City councillors get earful over truck route plan
I’m hearing from some people that I’ve never heard from in my almost 10 years on council.They are absolutely enraged by this. Coun. Carol Zanon
West Kelowna council has put the brakes on a controversial plan for a new truck route system in the city.
Rather than simply approve staff’s proposal, council has decided to gather public input before proceeding to Ànal adoption.
“I think we need to talk to a lot more people — not only residents, but also the trucking and business community,” Mayor Doug Findlater said at Tuesday’s council meeting.
“We don’t want to impede business, but we don’t want to see trucks shortcutting through neighbourhoods,” Findlater said.
In the past few days, councillors have received more than 35 letters from people expressing concern about what the proposed truck route system would mean for their neighbourhood in terms of noise and congestion.
Councillors described that as an extraordinary amount of communication in a short time, and said it reÁected the need to engage in wider public consultation.
“What we need to do here is take a bit of a longer view on this, slow the process down, (and) do some public consultation,” Coun. Duane Ophus said.
John Appleby, who lives on Gellatly Road South, is among those concerned about what he says is the increasing frequency of heavy truck trafÀc on the road.
“The roadway is narrow in many places with some very tight corners,” Appleby says. “It also passes four public parks and beaches with children playing, people walking dogs, and others cycling or hiking.”
Designating Gellatly Road South as a truck route, Appleby says, is “a crazy idea.”
West Kelowna, incorporated in 2007, does not currently have a truck route system, so the drivers of heavy vehicles are free to travel wherever they want.
Staff’s proposal is to allow the use of some municipal streets, such as Boucherie Road, Gellatly Road and Shannon Lake Road, as truck routes, but only between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m.
However, long sections of these roads pass through residential areas, and many people in those areas are upset city ofÀcials are proposing to designate the streets as truck routes.
“This proposal is at best premature and at worst a terrible idea,” said Coun. Bryden Winsby, who lives along Boucherie Road.
“I’m hearing from some people that I’ve never heard from in my almost 10 years on council,” said Coun. Carol Zanon. “They are absolutely enraged by this.”
Council agreed unanimously to give Àrst reading to the proposed truck route network but not proceed further until engaging in public consultation.
That as-yet unscheduled meeting, Zanon predicted, would be “really enthusiastic and well-attended.”