Post by Mart on Jul 13, 2011 10:12:22 GMT -5
East Vancouver residents worried about increase in truck traffic
By Tracy Sherlock, Vancouver Sun July 12, 2011
East Vancouver residents are worried about the increase in container truck traffic along Nanaimo Street.
After a ninefold increase in truck traffic along Nanaimo Street in east Vancouver, residents are fearful for their children’s safety and the city is asking ICBC for help to slow the big rigs down.
Port Metro Vancouver has asked truckers not to use Nanaimo Street, but it appears the plea has fallen on deaf ears. The east-side thoroughfare is a designated truck route, and is faster and less congested than other options open to truckers.
City engineers counted the trucks after residents complained about a massive increase when the port closed its Clark Drive entrance last year. On Oct. 14, 2010, the city counted 30 container trucks at Nanaimo and Hastings between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. During the same time frame a few weeks ago, on June 22, the city counted 271 trucks.
On Tuesday, residents living near the route in the Grandview-Woodlands neighbourhood gathered to speak out about the massive increase in truck traffic.
The neighbourhood is home to three elementary schools, and some kids have to cross Nanaimo Street to get to school, they pointed out.
"[The truckers] speed, they slide through the yellow lights, they’re unable to stop," said Bethan Stewart, who lives in the area and has two young children. "Trucks are a reality of life, but not these huge container trucks.
"We’re very, very worried that a senior or a child is going to get hurt or killed."
Resident and Non-Partisan Association park-board candidate Dave Pasin, who organized the gathering along with NPA city-council candidate Joe Carangi, said the truck traffic starts at 5 a.m. and continues until about 8 p.m. every day.
The trucks are loud and they cause shaking that Pasin fears will damage infrastructure under the street. During the gathering, several noisy trucks sped by along the street.
"Transport trucks cannot stop because they are speeding and the reason they’re speeding is because they need to do a certain number of loads each day," Carangi said. "One day a kid will not make it across the street, and a truck that can’t stop ... will unfortunately either injure or kill that child."
The group is urging neighbours to call city hall to complain every time they hear a large truck using its engine brakes or see one speeding down in the area. Residents want city hall to step up enforcement of noise bylaws and speeding, or better yet, to have the trucks redirected back to Clark Drive.
Coun. Kerry Jang said police have increased enforcement on the busy road and will continue to do so.
"ICBC has agreed to implement a speed-watch program [on Nanaimo]," Jang said.
Andrea Bell, who lives right on the corner of Charles and Nanaimo streets, said that when she moved in she expected some noise from the street.
"It has got considerably louder. We love it here, but the neighbourhood doesn’t have the same community feel that it did," said Bell, who was carrying her two-year-old daughter Eire.
"It’s scary and I worry about [Eire’s] safety," said Bell, adding that sometimes her daughter will hide between her legs because she is scared by the sound of a truck’s brakes.
Jang told The Sun that city staff are working on a solution, but they don’t want to merely send the trucks into another community.
"As soon as they heard there was a problem, traffic engineers were out doing traffic counts and studies on Nanaimo and other roads as well," Jang said. "The No. 1 problem we have is ... you may fix the problem on Nanaimo, but you may push the problem onto Renfrew or somewhere else."
The port closed the Clark Drive entrance at Powell Street last year. Tony Benincasa, Port Metro Vancouver’s manager of logistics and operations, said last week that the trucks on Clark were causing backups and delays because of traffic-light issues at Hastings Street and conflicts with rail congestion within the port lands.
Jang said the city spent a lot of money making Clark Drive more efficient for truckers, but port officials decided on their own to reroute the trucks, without asking the neighbourhood or city council.
"Truckers ... will find the quickest and cheapest route they can," Jang said. "The port is our lifeblood and we have to make sure goods flow. It’s a balancing act and they’re working on it."
Jang said proposed changes should be presented to council in the next few days.
"Our staff is looking at everything from getting the ports to reopen the entrance on Clark, to how they can improve traffic flow on Clark, to how to calm Nanaimo Street. If we take the truck designation off Nanaimo, we want to make sure the trucks flow on another route that doesn’t affect a neighbourhood."
The port recommended truckers coming from Richmond and Delta use Marine Drive and Boundary Road to access McGill/Commissioner. It also suggested they could use a truck route along Clark to Powell and Dundas, Benincasa said. Jang said the port made another request Tuesday, asking truckers not to use Nanaimo.
tsherlock@vancouversun.com
Read more: www.vancouversun.com
By Tracy Sherlock, Vancouver Sun July 12, 2011
East Vancouver residents are worried about the increase in container truck traffic along Nanaimo Street.
After a ninefold increase in truck traffic along Nanaimo Street in east Vancouver, residents are fearful for their children’s safety and the city is asking ICBC for help to slow the big rigs down.
Port Metro Vancouver has asked truckers not to use Nanaimo Street, but it appears the plea has fallen on deaf ears. The east-side thoroughfare is a designated truck route, and is faster and less congested than other options open to truckers.
City engineers counted the trucks after residents complained about a massive increase when the port closed its Clark Drive entrance last year. On Oct. 14, 2010, the city counted 30 container trucks at Nanaimo and Hastings between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. During the same time frame a few weeks ago, on June 22, the city counted 271 trucks.
On Tuesday, residents living near the route in the Grandview-Woodlands neighbourhood gathered to speak out about the massive increase in truck traffic.
The neighbourhood is home to three elementary schools, and some kids have to cross Nanaimo Street to get to school, they pointed out.
"[The truckers] speed, they slide through the yellow lights, they’re unable to stop," said Bethan Stewart, who lives in the area and has two young children. "Trucks are a reality of life, but not these huge container trucks.
"We’re very, very worried that a senior or a child is going to get hurt or killed."
Resident and Non-Partisan Association park-board candidate Dave Pasin, who organized the gathering along with NPA city-council candidate Joe Carangi, said the truck traffic starts at 5 a.m. and continues until about 8 p.m. every day.
The trucks are loud and they cause shaking that Pasin fears will damage infrastructure under the street. During the gathering, several noisy trucks sped by along the street.
"Transport trucks cannot stop because they are speeding and the reason they’re speeding is because they need to do a certain number of loads each day," Carangi said. "One day a kid will not make it across the street, and a truck that can’t stop ... will unfortunately either injure or kill that child."
The group is urging neighbours to call city hall to complain every time they hear a large truck using its engine brakes or see one speeding down in the area. Residents want city hall to step up enforcement of noise bylaws and speeding, or better yet, to have the trucks redirected back to Clark Drive.
Coun. Kerry Jang said police have increased enforcement on the busy road and will continue to do so.
"ICBC has agreed to implement a speed-watch program [on Nanaimo]," Jang said.
Andrea Bell, who lives right on the corner of Charles and Nanaimo streets, said that when she moved in she expected some noise from the street.
"It has got considerably louder. We love it here, but the neighbourhood doesn’t have the same community feel that it did," said Bell, who was carrying her two-year-old daughter Eire.
"It’s scary and I worry about [Eire’s] safety," said Bell, adding that sometimes her daughter will hide between her legs because she is scared by the sound of a truck’s brakes.
Jang told The Sun that city staff are working on a solution, but they don’t want to merely send the trucks into another community.
"As soon as they heard there was a problem, traffic engineers were out doing traffic counts and studies on Nanaimo and other roads as well," Jang said. "The No. 1 problem we have is ... you may fix the problem on Nanaimo, but you may push the problem onto Renfrew or somewhere else."
The port closed the Clark Drive entrance at Powell Street last year. Tony Benincasa, Port Metro Vancouver’s manager of logistics and operations, said last week that the trucks on Clark were causing backups and delays because of traffic-light issues at Hastings Street and conflicts with rail congestion within the port lands.
Jang said the city spent a lot of money making Clark Drive more efficient for truckers, but port officials decided on their own to reroute the trucks, without asking the neighbourhood or city council.
"Truckers ... will find the quickest and cheapest route they can," Jang said. "The port is our lifeblood and we have to make sure goods flow. It’s a balancing act and they’re working on it."
Jang said proposed changes should be presented to council in the next few days.
"Our staff is looking at everything from getting the ports to reopen the entrance on Clark, to how they can improve traffic flow on Clark, to how to calm Nanaimo Street. If we take the truck designation off Nanaimo, we want to make sure the trucks flow on another route that doesn’t affect a neighbourhood."
The port recommended truckers coming from Richmond and Delta use Marine Drive and Boundary Road to access McGill/Commissioner. It also suggested they could use a truck route along Clark to Powell and Dundas, Benincasa said. Jang said the port made another request Tuesday, asking truckers not to use Nanaimo.
tsherlock@vancouversun.com
Read more: www.vancouversun.com