Thunder Bay Truck Ban Just Smoke and Mirrors?

THUNDER BAY [APRIL 5, 2001] — Councilors in the City of Thunder Bay voted Monday night to ban commercial vehicles from the Dawson Rd. (Hwy. 102) by-pass. Without access to the century-old trail, through truck traffic would have to use the Arthur St. Expressway (Hwy 11/17), a route that is already dangerously overcrowded. The four-lane roadway is studded with traffic lights, dense automotive traffic and runs through several residential areas, located mostly in the west-end of the city.

Imagine diverting all commercial traffic onto an artery that’s already operating well above its design capacity? Then add to the mix Dangerous Goods carriers and heavily laden pulp trucks and you’ve got a scary little scenario on the go.

That, hoped Thunder Bay Councilor Gary Shchepanik, was just what was needed to draw the media’s attention to an issue that has been simmering in The Lakehead for more than a decade.

Shchepanik said he used an opportunity at Monday’s council meeting to table the resolution to ban trucks from Dawson Rd. Only 10 of the 13 councilors were present, and five of them were in favor of the ban with one abstention. The vote worked out in their favor, but will likely never be ratified. And that, Shchepanik says now, was the plan all along.

“I tabled the resolution to make a political statement in order to get everyone riled up,” he says. “The resolution to ban trucks from Dawson Rd. is idiotic, and that’s exactly why I did it.”

Council in Thunder Bay has been trying to get the Ontario government to address the traffic problems on Arthur St. for years, unsuccessfully. So Shchepanik chose a strategy guaranteed to generate the maximum amount of attention for the issue.

Rather than alienate truckers in the area, Council was really hoping that they’d take Council’s position on the issue, Shchepanik suggested. “It’s got to cost a ton of money with all the starting and stopping along either of our two through routes.”

The story received plenty of play in the local media, and has just now begun to wind down with Councilor Shchepanik’s explanation of what went on.

“On Monday April 9, the resolution banning heavy trucks on Dawson Rd. will disappear, and then I can approach the MTO with all these faxes and public outcry over the lack of highway funding directed to this area,” he insists. “We succeeded in the getting the trucking industry all wound up in hopes that they join in the call.”

Truckers agree that Arthur St. is a problem. So, apparently, does the Ontario Provincial Police, the City of Thunder Bay Police, the Mayor and at least 2000 Thunder Bay residents. Shchepanik says he now has what he needs to get the MTO to come to the table.

What Council was hoping to accomplish was to get MTO to commit to funding a proposed extension to the Harbour Expressway, called the Shabaqua Extension.

But John McKevitt senior of Thunder Bay-based McKevitt Trucking Ltd. says the Council is just doing some serious back peddling at this point. He refuses to believe that the ban was a hoax intended only to generate media attention.

“This (a truck ban on Dawson Rd.) was part of at least one councilors election platform during the fall election. So don’t tell me this thing was just a bunch of smoke and mirrors now that we’ve made them look completely ridiculous,” said the outspoken McKevitt.

“That crowd is nuts from the word go,” he says. “Now that we’ve called their bluff, they’re just trying to save face.”

Truck traffic in the area has been a serious concern for years, with several campaigns waged against speed trucks. One blitz netted 283 speeding cars, and only 37 trucks. Not long ago, the issue of noise from engine brakes had become a major issue on Hodder Ave, a major through-route for local trucks.

McKevitt says he doesn’t expect the issue to just evaporate now that Council has been defeated in the court of public opinion. “There are only two routes around and through this town and we need both of them,” he said. “The key to this is to enhance safety through cooperation, not confrontation. If the government ever does decide to build the Shabaqua Extension, tactics like these aren’t going to improve our chances.”