As downtown grows, District of Squamish officials are examining the possibility of a truck route through the Squamish Estuary.
The current route for logging and Squamish Terminals-bound trucks runs down Loggers Lane. As municipal officials move forward with revitalizing downtown, the route has become an obstacle, staff noted at council's Committee of the Whole meeting on May 14.
The truck route has to move or we are going to fail with the transformation of downtown, Mayor Rob Kirkham said.
One option outlined in municipal plans is diverting truck traffic to Third Avenue. That proposal was always considered a temporary fix, said Rod MacLeod, the district's director of engineering. It's not ideal and is an imposition on a residential area, he noted. Councillors were quick to point out that seniors housing, a mall and schools also line the roadway.
The two most vulnerable demographics are right in that area, Coun. Susan Chapelle said.
After a lengthy discussion, councillors voted to have staff examine the previously considered idea of the Seventh Avenue connector a proposal to build a roadway beside the CN Rail line through the Squamish Estuary to Squamish Terminals. Rough estimates put the bill for the road at approximately $4 million, MacLeod said.
It is a bucket load of money and we are not going to do it tomorrow, Kirkham said, before noting that either way, the proposal needs to be examined.
There are three funding possibilities for such a project through local government, all levels of government or a mix of government and industry, Coun. Ron Sander said. The City of North Vancouver is currently paying for some road improvements with the help of private-sector stakeholders from the North Shore Trade Area, he noted.
Councillors recognized the proposal won't be popular with nature enthusiasts. It will be a horrendous undertaking, Chapelle said.
Squamish biologist Edith Tobe said the Seventh Avenue connector would remove extremely important estuary habitat, she said. The estuary serves as key habitat for many species of shore birds and unique plant species and provides the community with free flood protection, protection that would be eroded if such a road is built, Tobe noted.
Tobe questioned whether the idea was being pushed by the district. The original plan called for the road to be built only if and when Squamish Terminals (SQT) expanded, she noted. With downtown a dead zone and Squamish oceanfront plans stagnant, Tobe said she's not sure there's a need for such a roadway.
In 2008, The Nature Trust bought 5.3 hectares in the Squamish Estuary.
[The trust land] would be incredibly impacted by a roadway, Tobe added.
Squamish Terminals has supported the Seventh Avenue connector idea since it was first suggested as part of the 1999 Squamish Estuary Management Plan, SQT spokesperson Kim Stegeman wrote in an email to The Chief. At the time, all the parties involved in negotiating the plan agreed to a land swap, creating a Wildlife Management Area in exchange for a number of provisions, including the transportation corridor, she stated.
Approximately 4,500 truck movements serve SQT each year. As the oceanfront and downtown grow, it puts more pressure on Loggers Lane, Stegeman noted.
We anticipate truck traffic for Squamish Terminals to grow in future and we will continue to lobby and be supportive of the community implementing a solution that addresses truck route issues: reliability, safety, and efficiency, she said.
