Designated Truck Route launch delayed

Thunder Bay’s Designated Truck Route, which was meant to take effect on Wednesday, will be delayed for a short time. It is likely a matter of days, according to the Director of the city’s Engineering Division Matthew Miedema.

The Designated Truck Route intends to direct truck traffic off of Dawson Road and Arthur Street to Highway 11/17, with an exception for local deliveries.

Thunder Bay City Council approved the plan on June 23rd.

According to Miedema, the city is still waiting for the signs it needs to inform trucks of the new routes.

“They are signed highway signs of certain code requirements you need to meet,” Miedema explains. “The design does take some time with engineering, and we also had legal involved to make sure the messaging was approved and in accordance with highway traffic and rules of the road.”

The truck route will require two types of signs providing information. One type is already completed and ready to be distributed, but the other requires a special reflective material that has yet to arrive. Miedema assures that the material required “should arrive any day,” and the signs will go up as soon as that happens.

Redirecting truck traffic is expected to alter the route of 1,600 trucks daily: 1,300 from Dawson Road and 300 from Arthur Street.

City Council decided on its plan to redirect traffic after conducting an engineering analysis and a third-party consulting review.

“What we found is shipping trucks off Dawson Road and Arthur Street is safer for the overall network,” Miedema says.

In addition to potentially reducing road accidents, the city government also believes it will save money on road maintenance costs, as large trucks cause greater wear and tear to city streets than regular passenger vehicles.

Because Highway 11/17 is a provincial highway, redirecting heavy traffic will allow the city to offload its maintenance costs onto the province.