Residents in Ottawa’s south end will have three chances over the next week to weigh in on truck traffic in Ottawa’s south end and potential future routes for vehicles through Barrhaven, Manotick and Riverside South. The City of Ottawa has launched the south end truck route study to review and assess the route heavy vehicles travel in the south end of the city. “The goal of this assessment is to review existing truck routes for safety, efficiency and community impacts, as well to explore the possibility and impacts of potential modifications to the truck network,” the city said. The Manotick Concerned Citizens Against Truck Traffic group has called on the city to reroute truck traffic away from the village. The group says approximately 1,000 trucks per day travel through the Manotick on an average weekday. According to the City of Ottawa, Bridge Street connecting to Mitch Owens Road is a designated truck route. Staff say the south end truck route study will include a review of traffic operations, land uses and community impacts, and network efficiencies and deficiencies. The study will explore the possibility of potential changes to the truck route and potential impacts to the communities. Manotick resident Jim Sproul, a retired emergency physician and former Ontario deputy Chief Coroner, says he had a near-fatal crash with a truck while riding his bike in the area. It inspired him to write a paper on the risks the truck route has for public safety, particularly for children and seniors. “The city is putting public safety second, and seems to be taking trucks network first,” he said. “The public safety is supposed to be the priority of the city. The mayor currently is campaigning on public safety as a major part of his campaign, and they really need to walk the talk and show that they really care about public.” Three community drop-in public information sessions are being held over the next week. Riverside South Coun. Steve Desroches warns a change in the truck route to skip Bridge Street in Manotick would increase truck traffic driving through Riverside South across the Vimy Memorial Bridge. “The Vimy Memorial Bridge is already very busy, and adding more trucks would only cause more congestion and pressure on our local road network,” Desroches said in a post on Instagram. “With this change, the community would likely see a 100 percent increase in trucks driving through Riverside South each day. It would create further delays for commuters and transit riders, as well as slow down emergency vehicles as the Riverside South Fire Station is located along Earl Armstrong near the bridge. “Beyond the bridge, this change would put pressure on surrounding streets like River Road, Earl Armstrong Road, Strandherd Drive and Prince of Wales Drive. These streets already become congested during rush hour and adding a significant number of trucks to this area would be unsustainable.” With files from CTV News Ottawa’s Shaun Vardon
