Residents of Hovey and Tomlinson roads in Central Saanich are relieved that a pallet business that relied on truck traffic has moved its operation off the nearby Tsartlip Reserve, but say a “dangerous” precedent remains to be solved in the rural area.
“The residents are happy that the roads have returned to normal, but we are very nervous about the future,” said Terry Forsyth, president of the Hovey Tomlinson Community Association.
“We won the battle, but the war is still going on,” he said, referring to a recent decision by council to vote down a weight limit of 5,500 kilograms for trucks on Hovey unless they are making local deliveries.
Instead, the district is gearing up to push for so-called extraordinary traffic agreements with companies that residents say would allow the same truck-use scenario to occur down the road. Mayor Ryan Windsor disagrees, saying the agreement can be “tailored to the situation” at issue.
Industrial traffic heading to and from the reserve should use the roads closest to the district’s designated truck route, the association wrote to council in November, citing Gowdy Road, where the land on both sides is owned by the Tsartlip Band Council, or directly west on the current right of way to West Saanich Road.
“We are simply asking for the same consideration that has been given to residents in other parts of the community,” the association said.
However, Tsartlip First Nation councillor Joni Olsen noted that the business — VI Pallet Recovery — that was the focus of residents’ concerns ceased operation, according to the minutes of the Dec. 12 council meeting. Olsen stated that “safety issues are more pronounced for Tsartlip members along West Saanich Road than they are on Hovey and Tomlinson.”
Before closing, VI Pallet trucks faced restrictions such as using the roads only five hours a day accompanied by a pilot vehicle — but residents said it still wasn’t safe for pedestrians or horses to share the route.
Earlier this year, business owner Kevin Gray told the Times Colonist that the company was using one five-tonne truck and several one-tonne pickups instead of tractor trailers, leading to a lot more loading and unloading. “We’ve made every concession that we can. We cannot spend any more money on this,” he said.
The company was located on Wain Road prior to moving to the Tsartlip territory in the fall of 2015, and has reportedly relocated to Cobble Hill due to financial losses from the residents’ ongoing opposition. )
“The use of these roads as a truck route for heavy industrial traffic coming to and from the Tsartlip First Nations land has been proven through several documents, to be destructive to infrastructure and even more importantly, dangerous to residents and road users,” the association wrote. The association hired a consultant from Sirius Strategic Solutions Ltd. at a cost of several thousand dollars to prepare a traffic safety report for the area, which concluded that “commercial truck traffic in this area is inappropriate and represents numerous road safety risks.”
The consultant, Jennifer Kroeker-Hall, is president of the Association of Canadian Road Safety Professionals. “Our community is trying to be preventative so we don’t go through this all over again,” said one resident, adding that the bylaw under consideration does not even spell out public safety.
Windsor said that the safety of people on the road is implicit in an extraordinary traffic agreement and noted that the district has spent “a great deal of times and effort” on the Hovey area issue. An agreement about truck traffic with a specific company is preferable to a restriction, he said. “I think it’s the best solution at hand.”
Central Saanich will consider adopting an extraordinary traffic agreement bylaw for commercial and industrial trucks this month.
Part of the draft bylaw would close the “unimproved” portion of Hovey Road to truck traffic except where the owner of the truck has entered into an agreement with Central Saanich to allow a vehicle of a stipulated class, size and weight to travel on that portion of Hovey Road that would otherwise be prohibited under the bylaw.
The association suggested that could set “a dangerous precedent” as such agreements are difficult to enforce and do not recoup the costs of road damage.
The truck traffic during the pallet company’s tenure resulted in everything from illegal removal of municipal traffic signs, blockage of other vehicles, near-accidents and runners from Stelly’s high school being forced off the road to make way for commercial trucks, the association told council.
The residents’ association has gone to the B.C. Ombudsperson’s Office, which has opened a file based on their contention that council has not taken action to rectify the roadway dangers.
