As work continues on the heavy-truck bypass around the northern outskirts of Estevan, the City is also looking to review and revise which roads within city limits are going to continue accepting heavy trucks in the future.
Going forward council agreed during their regular meeting on May 5 that allowing fewer trucks on city streets is better than the opposite.
City council had previously raised concerns with Fourth Avenue being a designated truck route, and during a review of the routes around the city, council identified three other areas to be reconsidered, Alice Road from Woodlawn Avenue to the west city boundary, Woodlawn Avenue from Alice Road to the south city boundary and Sixth Street from Second Avenue to Kensington Avenue.
The report from city engineer Kiflom Weldeab was returned to council last week.
Councillor Kevin Smith raised some concerns over the potential removal of the truck route designation on Sixth Street. If the city began to no longer allow trucks on Sixth Street between Kensington and Second, Smith asked if they would be restricting access to all trucks over a certain weight or whether existing businesses on that stretch of road would be permitted on the street with oversized loads.
Most of Sixth Street isn't a truck route, but there is a 375-metre stretch west of Kensington Avenue to Second Avenue that allows them.
The recommendation to council noted the City should either revisit classifying that section of Sixth Street as a truck route or include Second Avenue from Third Street to Sixth Street as a truck route so heavy loads are able to loop back around to Kensington.
Weldeab said as it stands, the Sixth Street truck route goes nowhere.
"It doesn't loop around. That is a truck route that doesn't go anywhere," said Weldeab, noting if that section of Sixth Street continues as a truck route there should be the inclusion of Second Avenue as well.
He added that the issue for many of these roads was that they haven't been built to withstand heavy-truck traffic, Sixth Street included.
Mayor Roy Ludwig said there will be further consultation with the public who will have the opportunity to come forward with their concerns about the truck routes as the bylaw is drawn up.
"The whole reason behind this, and I know council is fully behind it, is the degradation of our streets and roads. We simply cannot continue to watch them deteriorate," said Ludwig. "Now that we've got the heavy-truck bypass, we want to restrict wherever possible the heavy-truck traffic on our streets."
Council accepted the report on the truck routes during the meeting, and discussions concerning any changes to the truck route designations in the city will continue.
Ludwig said once the weight restriction signs are erected in the necessary places, enforcement will be the role of the Estevan Police Service. He said they are in the process of acquiring portable scales and noted there is at least one EPS officer who has been trained in the use of the scales.
After EPS is equipped with the portable scales they will be able to begin enforcing the city's limitations on roads that aren't specifically identified as truck access routes.
