Manotick residents want trucks diverted from village

A group of residents in the Village of Manotick is campaigning to reroute all through traffic from heavy trucks. CTV’s Peter Szperling reports.

Residents of Manotick are calling for heavy trucks to be rerouted away from the village and have formed an organization to see those changes are made.

The Manotick Concerned Citizens Against Truck Traffic group is holding a community meeting on Oct. 29 as part of the campaign called Reroute Trucks Now.

“We’re very concerned, primarily about public safety,” says resident Bruce Miller.

Miller says the group commissioned a study on truck traffic through the village, based on city traffic data, that, according to him, found, “there’s approximately a thousand trucks per average weekday in both directions.”

“What we’re asking for is the immediate closure of Bridge Street (to trucks), which is possible” he says. “The trucks can be rerouted to River Road. That would be a short term, interim solution, for the trucks to be on River Road and therefore, routed over the Vimy Bridge.”

He says the ban would be aimed at through trucks, with vehicles making deliveries within Manotick exempt. Miller says, according to the study, deliveries account for only 10 per cent of truck traffic, with the remaining 90 per cent classified as through traffic.

“I was almost killed riding my bike across the bridge,” says resident Jim Sproule. “A flatbed truck came up beside me in the bike lane, disappeared, and suddenly he was encroaching on me, and I had to stop. Otherwise, I would have gone under his wheels, and I would have been killed for sure.”

“We need the city to make the right decision. We shouldn’t be waiting for a human sacrifice.”

The organization looking to ban trucks from Manotick has an online petition, with more than 1,100 signatures.

According to the City of Ottawa, Bridge Street connecting to Mitch Owens Road is a designated truck route.

Coun. David Brown of Rideau-Jock ward says he would like to see trucks diverted from the community but noted there are processes to follow to achieve that goal.

“If I had that red button to push to say no trucks in Manotick, I would have done that on day one, and I think my residents know that. What my residents want is a plan that’s going to be supported by council, because ultimately that’s the only way this is going to happen,” Brown told CTV News Ottawa.

“I need the support of my colleagues. I can’t make that decision unilaterally. As I said, I would have done it if I could.”

The councillor says the city is currently undertaking a rural truck study, which could provide evidence to support a rerouting of heavy-duty traffic.

“Certainly, for me, the goal of that study is to show that Bridge Street and Manotick is not an appropriate route for heavy trucks to be driving through the heart of the village,” he said.

Brown says the city has already restricted trucks from Manotick Main street nine months of the year, but residents say that doesn’t fix the bridge street issue.

“This is still a priority for me. But again, we need to stay united as a community. We need to work towards a solution that will be supported by council,” Brown said.

Last year, the City of Ottawa banned transport trucks from a section of Main Street in the village of Manotick. According to Brown, at the time, Manotick Main Street, between Bridge Street and Century Road, was set to be removed from the city’s truck route network.

Signage is now up, restricting trucks from turning onto Manotick Main Street, but trucks will be permitted on Manotick Main Street between March 1 and May 15 each year.

A second step, to complete a “comprehensive truck route study,” in Manotick was aimed for this year.

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