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POLICY BRIEF:

No More Trucks on King Edward Avenue

Fact: Current City of Ottawa and National Capital Commission policies indirectly

encourage the concentration of the entire regions interprovincial truck traffic onto

residential streets in less affluent neighbourhoods.

King Edward Avenue Task Force, 2012

Purpose

King Edward Avenue has been used as a temporary truck route by the City of Ottawa

for over four decades. The time has come for consideration to be given to alternatives

until a new east end interprovincial bridge is built. This document provides a number

of innovative solutions.

Use Delivery Sized Trucks OnlyIf Ottawa were a European city, then there would be no question about the size of trucks on our city streets.Most European cities have streets that are too narrow to accommodate the smallest of North American trucks. In

Ontario, the provincial ministry of transportation has supported the approach of allowing larger and larger

trucks on our roads. Unfortunately, those same provincial policies that work well for our highways between

cities have completely disregarded the effects on trucks going through our cities. Large trucks delivering to

cities should drop off their loads at regional distribution centers outside the city, while those moving through the

city should be limited to smaller trucks until an urban bypass highway is built.

A Straight Truck Versus a Tractor-Trailor Combination Truck

Source: Ontario: Highway Traffic Act.

Ban Trucks During Certain HoursConsideration could be given to reducing the hours during which trucks are allowed to travel along King

Edward Avenue. They could be limited to outside the busiest hours of the day, during the night, or possibly

even on weekends. Banning trucks during the busiest traffic hours of the day would reduce the potential ofpedestrian incidents and reduce congestion. It would also promote the more efficient use of the roadway by

diverting trucks to the less busy hours of the day.

Permit SystemThis option involves developing a permit system for trucks using King Edward Avenue. Currently, the City of

Ottawa only allows trucks on certain streets, but trucks can use other streets if they have a special permit. A

combination of approaches could be taken. For example, the designation of King Edward Avenue as a truck

route could be limited to smaller trucks or removed completely from the truck road network. Truckers wouldonly be allowed to use King Edward Avenue by obtaining a special permit. This would encourage truckers to

use smaller trucks, look for alternative routes outside the city, help the city keep better track of the truck

movements on King Edward, and provide funding to mitigate the negative effects of the trucks on residents and

businesses in the downtown. Revenues collected could be used to improve the streetscape and safety along King

Edward Avenue and Rideau Street.

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SUMMARY: King Edward Avenue, a downtown residential street, has been used as a temporary truck route

for over four decades. Would this be acceptable in any of Ottawas more affluent neighbourhoods? Residentsand businesses along this truck route have paid a high price for this situation. Now, it is time to fairly share this

burden. A failure to act on the recommendations in this report will only serve to reinforce that there are two

kinds of people in Ottawa: the affluent and connected and the poor and forgotten. The negative effects of ourprosperity should be mitigated or fairly shared. We all deserve a similar quality of life in our communities.

Ban All Trucks Carrying Dangerous GoodsEvery day, the City of Ottawa puts thousands of lives at stake by allowing trucks carrying dangerous goodsthrough the city. A former City of Ottawa fire chief was once quoted as saying that as many as 100,000 people

would need to be evacuated if one of these trucks were to overturn and spill their dangerous chemicals. If this is

true, then how many people would die? We would rather not find out. While these trucks are a minority of the

truck traffic using King Edward Avenue, we believe that they should be strictly managed or prohibited all-

together. Such trucks should be using bypasses around the city.

Set Strict Emissions and Safety Standards

The diesel pollution produced by the trucks using King Edward Avenue is an environmental hazard to thehealth of Lowertown residents. The high amount of particulate matter in diesel emissions is allowing for an

undue amount of risk to the Citys most vulnerable people: homeless, elderly residents, and children. At the

same time, safety concerns continue to be raised several pedestrians have been killed in the past few years.

The City should pass stricter rules affecting the fuel emissions standards of vehicles using King Edward Avenue

and apply a higher standard of safety for pedestrians and cyclists. A similar approach was taken at the Long

Beach Port in California and led to a considerable decrease in local-area pollution affecting residents in that

area.

ALTERNATIVE ROUTES

Among the most controversial but fair solutions is to more fairly distribute the heavy interprovincial trucktraffic among Ottawas many communities. All people in Ottawa benefit from the products transported by large

trucks. It is not fair to expect only one or a few communities and streets to take on the full responsibility of

carrying all of these products. If the City of Ottawa chooses to continue allowing large trucks on streets like

King Edward Avenue, then it should be pursuing ways to divert some of the traffic onto other streets.

Allow Trucks On More City StreetsToday, in Ottawa, there exist several roads that could accommodate heavier trucks, but that are not included in

the current truck road network. For various reasons, in many cases due to political interference, these roads have

been designated non-truck routes. In at least one case, the road is a faster and safer alternative to Rideau Street

being used. These prohibited routes have resulted in a significantly higher amount of truck traffic along King

Edward Avenue and Rideau Street. They have also put a much greater number of lives at risk by allowing

trucks to continue moving in areas with higher volumes of pedestrians, cyclists, and cars.

Banning Trucks In One DirectionOne fair alternative would be to ban trucks in one direction along parts or all of King Edward Avenue andRideau Street. The same level of traffic would continue to move in one direction, while an alternative route

would take on the other half of the truck traffic.

Allowing Trucks On NCC ParkwaysOttawa has an unusual transportation network in which the federal government owns many of the main roadsand bridges. Unfortunately, the National Capital Commission has banned trucks from these parkways and some

bridges despite the fact that most of them have no residential properties adjacent to them. The vision for the

national capital does not include trucks. Unfortunately, this has had the indirect result of diverting trucks onto

residential streets in densely populated neighbourhoods. This is both irresponsible and putting the lives of

Canadians at risk. Is this truly our national vision?

Open All Bridges To Truck TrafficOttawa has five bridges, but only allows trucks to use two of these bridges. It might be a surprise to many to

discover that there is not one west end bridge that allows truck traffic. As a result the entire regions

interprovincial truck traffic is forced to go through downtown Ottawa.

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ANNEX 1 City of Ottawa Policy

Policy Context

The basis for designating a truck route originates in the Transportation Master Plan and

the Official Plan. The following is an excerpt from the Transportation Master Plan fromSection 6.10 Goods Movement:

Ottawas truck route system is generally represented by arterial roads

that can withstand use by heavy trucks, the sizes of which are legislated

by the Province of Ontario. Designation of truck routes must consider

noise, vibrations, emissions and safety impacts. In general, trucking

impacts on residential areas can be minimized by providing several

alternative routes, so that impacts are not concentrated in one area.Because reduced routing options also increase costs, trucking

restrictions on arterial roads should be considered only where

community impacts are significant, where the road in question servesexclusively non-commercial land uses, and where adequate alternative

routes are available.

The following sections are an excerpt from the Official Plan from the Strategic Directions

chapter, Section 2.3.1 Transportation Goods Movement:

The City will minimize the impact of truck traffic on residential

neighbourhoods caused by the presence of these vehicles and their noise,

vibration and emissions by ensuring the availability of a comprehensive truck

route network based on the arterial road system.

The City will explore alternative means to accommodate interprovincial trucktravel to minimize impacts on the Central Area, in particular along and in the

vicinity of King Edward Avenue.

The Truck Route Designation Policy provides specific direction on the assessment of

appropriate routes for designation. The following excerpts, in particular the boldedsections, are supportive to the purposes of this report:

Objectives

The following objectives are to be used for the development and updates to the

Truck Route System:

a. efficient movement of trucks;

b. safe movement of trucks;

c. efficient movement of other traffic;

d. minimization of environmental disruption to citizens; and,

e. minimization of structural damage to roadways and structures.

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System/Network Criteria:

a. identify a continuous truck route system with easy access to and from

provincial highways, freeways, major through routes, and truck traffic generators and

attractors;

b. include sufficient network linkages to avoid over-concentration of truck

movements and congestion;

c. identify routes with good traffic flow to minimize stop and start occurrences;

and,d. avoid high pedestrian corridors and areas with significant traffic conflicts.

Environmental Criteria:

a. minimize impacts of truck traffic (vibration, noise and emissions) onsensitive areas such as residential neighbourhoods, hospitals, schools;

b. avoid routes adjacent to heritage/weak structures; and,

c. avoid bisecting communities/neighbourhoods.

Source: Draft 2009 City of Ottawa Report

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ANNEX 2 Five Largest Border Crossings for Trucks (2009)

Description: If the Macdonald-Cartier Bridge, which connects to King Edward Avenue

in Ottawa, was a Canada-U.S. border crossing, then it would rank 4 th highest in terms ofannual two-way truck traffic.

Rank Crossing point Two-way traffic volume

1 Windsor Ambassador Bridge, Ont. 2,250,000

2 Sarnia Blue Water Bridge, Ont. 1,450,000

3 Fort Erie Peace Bridge, Ont. 1,070,000

KING EDWARD AVENUE, OTTAWA 928,000

4 Niagara Falls Queenston Bridge, Ont. 670,000

5 Pacific Highway / Douglas, B.C. 640,000

2009 Canada - U.S. Two-Way Truck Traffic vs. King

Edward Avenue

0

500,000

1,000,000

1,500,000

2,000,000

2,500,000

Truck

Traffic

1 - Windsor Ambassador Bridge, Ont.

2 - Sarnia Blue Water Bridge, Ont.

3 - Fort Erie Peace Bridge, Ont.

KING EDWARD AVENUE, OTTAWA

4 - Niagara Falls Queenston Bridge, Ont.

5 - Pacific Highway / Douglas, B.C.

Source: Transport Canada, adapted from Statistics Canada, International Travel section, and other

unpublished statistics. Full table http://www.tc.gc.ca/media/documents/policy/addendum2009.pdf (page

96)

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ANNEX 3 Ottawas Urban Truck Route Network (2008)

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ANNEX 4 Truck Traffic Must Be Fairly Shared

(Article Echo Newspaper, 2012)

It has been 47 years since the Macdonald-Cartier Bridge opened. Since that time, King

Edward Avenue and Rideau have been used by this City as the temporary truck routebetween Gatineau and Ottawa. In an Ottawa Journal article from the 1970`s, former

president of the Lowertown community association, Lionel Hotte, boldly said the poorare fed up with being treated as leftovers. The article was entitled Passing the trucks

and it is a stark reminder of how little times have changed in Ottawa.

We still have no bridge despite hollow promises from a generation of politicians andbureaucrats. Even more troubling, there are rumblings that the current study and

promised interprovincial bridge in the east end will be crushed by rich and powerful

interests beyond our meagre influence here in Lowertown. We have more trucks, cars andbuses every year as the region grows. Most disgracefully, over half a dozen people have

been killed in recent years and most of the incidents involved trucks. Have we alreadyforgotten the elderly man crushed to death at Rideau and King Edward or the elderlywoman knocked over and killed by another truck? What little notice our Citys grand

transportation planners take. What do they really value? Speed? Helping get as many

people out of downtown into the hinterlands of Gatineau as efficiently as possible?

The Task Force has taken up Mr. Hottes challenge. We will be releasing a report this

spring entitled No More Trucks on King Edward Avenue. What we will reveal in that

report is somewhat shocking. Despite having five interprovincial bridges betweenGatineau and Ottawa, only two of the bridges allow trucks to cross. There are also several

major roads in Ottawa that could help with dispersing truck traffic, but these roads often

pass by rich and influential communities or are controlled by the National CapitalCommission. Our report will challenge the status quo. The burden of truck traffic in

Ottawa must be fairly shared. Some of us benefit much more than others from our

prosperity in this City, but we all deserve a similar quality of life in each of ourneighbourhoods. This community has paid a high price for this City`s truck traffic.

Ottawa owes Lowertown, people like Mr. Hotte, and others like him, much much more.

Marc Aubin,Chair,

King Edward Avenue Task Force

Possible images see following pages

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