The City of Regina is discussing banning commercial trucks on 9th Avenue North, something the Saskatchewan Trucking Association (STA) is strongly against.
The proposed ban would only be in affect from the Regina Bypass to Courtney Street, but STA Executive Director Susan Ewart says the closure will have a lot of impact.
“If it gets removed, what happens is, it’ll increase travel time, it’s going to increase carbon emissions, it’ll increase fuel consumption, and it’s going to increase the overall operational cost for a lot of businesses,” said Ewart.
She adds that all the businesses out at the Global Transportation Hub rely on the route and changing that would result in a lack of future business opportunities.
“We feel that it’s a very important connector to the Bypass,” said Ewart. “That area of the road needs to stay as a commercial truck route.”
Ewart says if the city wants to reduce their carbon footprint, then closing the truck route doesn’t make sense, as it will add 32 km round trip for every truck.
She also says the trucking industry has been given a bad reputation, which is not always true.
“One of the things that we need to think about is the economic impact that trucking has to our local economy, as well as provincially,” said Ewart. “It sort of feels like trucking is always getting the negative, they’re always getting the negative feedback. It’s not always them.”
In response to the STA’s criticism, the City of Regina said City Administration is currently investigating options to provide a recommendation and approach to Council, and the motion will be discussed at the end of the month.
