Several residents left very pleased from a meeting here on Monday night, after Guelph-Eramosa council agreed to prohibit trucks along a portion of Fife Road.
“Thank you very much for listening to us and acting on it,” resident Agnes Belosic told council. “It makes a lot of difference.”
Belosic was one of several residents who pleaded with council in January to institute the change to help combat problems on Fife Road, between Wellington Road 32 and Whitelaw Road, southwest of Guelph.
The delegation complained that despite its poor condition, including erosion, surface cracking and uneven shoulders, there are very high traffic volumes and speeds – and noise – on Fife Road, including a significant number of heavy trucks.
CAO Janice Sheppard said in her March 4 report to council the strategic planning committee met on Feb. 21 and agreed to prohibit trucks on Fife Road because:
– the portion of the road within Guelph has already been established as a no-truck route;
– it is likely truck traffic will increase on the road, given the number of industrial businesses in the area;
– neighbours along the road are in favour of the decision;
– heavy trucks should be using nearby “major truck routes” instead; and
– it is “the right thing to do.”
Sheppard noted the strategic planning committee also instructed township staff to “prepare a map and strategy for providing advance notice signage of a no-truck route along the roads that are adjacent to Fife Road.”
Council unanimously passed a bylaw to prohibit trucks heavier than three tonnes from travelling on Fife Road between Wellington Road 32 and Whitelaw Road.
Mayor Chris White noted it could take a few months for the township to receive approval from the attorney general for set fines, but the township would act as quickly as possible once that approval is received – hopefully by late spring.
“In the meantime we’ll put nails out on the road,” quipped councillor David Wolk.
After the meeting Wolk told the Advertiser the prohibition of trucks on Fife Road is long overdue.
He noted the move is significant, as Fife will be the only road in the municipality, and perhaps the county, to receive such a designation.
