Grand Forks city council has approved changes to the Roxul Road Closure Bylaw, but there has been some concerns raised by other companies using Industrial Parkway.
Danco Transport and 0877088 BC Ltd., along with attending principals from Urban Systems, raised the issue of the road closure to city council at the recent Union of British Columbia Municipalities.
City chief administrative officer Lynne Burch noted that the bylaw itself has already passed.
“They’re looking at different options in terms of the road closure, but council has yet to determine which option would work,” explained Burch. “The new CAO (Doug Allin) will take a report to council shortly and there are a couple of options that our engineers have given us on where we can put the new road.”
Urban Systems performed a cursory review of the proposed Industrial Parkway road closure and found that “some additional road widening would be required to accommodate the extents of both vehicle types (standard tractor trailer (WB-20) and the long combination vehicle).”
The first option outlined by Urban Systems revealed the movement could be maintained for the trucks if the roads were widened to accommodate the larger vehicles. The second option would mimic the existing road, but indicates that the intersection of Industrial Parkway and 2nd Street would move further south.
Geoff Danish, president of Danco Transport, explained that his company was one of the first businesses in the industrial park when it first opened in the 1970s.
“City council went ahead to close the road without a Plan B in place,” he said. “We understand that they are wanting to move the road and to give Roxul that property. The only problem we have with it is that we move long pieces of equipment and when you’re in the trucking business, you want to make sure where you’re at will give you the best access you can get for your trucks. When you’re in a position like this, you want to make it better, not worse.”
Danish noted that the closure of the road would make it more difficult for the trucks to get in and out of their yard.
“There are two letters of opposition and they weren’t taken into consideration,” he added. “With long trucks and trailers you need a lot of room to turn them around. Since 1976, we used to come in through 2nd Street, pull in and exit our property on Industrial Parkway. With the proposed road closure, it will make it extremely difficult for us to be doing business there.”
Burch pointed out that Industrial Parkway has been closed, but it will physically remain there until the new road constructed.
“It shouldn’t take too long to decide since winter will be upon us soon,” she said.
The Roxul Road Closure Bylaw (No. 1931) would have Roxul Inc. transfer 3,000 square metres of their property for 6,000 square metres of city property. Roxul also plans to fill and construct a three-metre wide ramp for the Trans Canada Trail to access 68th Avenue, and to build a 10-metre roadway as a new access road for Roxul from 68th Avenue.
