Dear Editor,

I wrote a letter to the Township of 91原创 Mayor and Council, expressing my concerns regarding amendments to the Highway and Traffic Bylaw, designating the portion of 216 Street from 88 Avenue to the new interchange as a truck route.

In a noise assessment report by BKL Consultants in Acoustics, and obtained by a Township resident through a FOI request, the truck traffic volume accessing/egressing the planned 216 Street interchange to the north is estimated be over 1, 400 trucks per day.

There has been significant opposition from the community regarding a highway-accessible commercial truck route through this residential area, directly past two elementary schools (Ecole des Voyageurs and Topham Elementary School), two preschools, a daycare, a community garden, a Township of 91原创 park and numerous residential areas. Such incompatible land uses would put at significant risk the safety and health of all residents, especially schoolchildren.

In an internal email obtained through FOI written on Friday, January 27, 2017, Mr. Graeme Cross, the Senior Traffic Operations Engineer at the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (MOTI) stated to Mr. Gerry Fleming (MOTI/Binnie) and Mr. Jonathan Ho (Binnie):

鈥淪trategically, it would be best for the ministry to 鈥� ask ToL to be more forthright on their traffic management strategies to keep non-local traffic off of residential street during this interim period until the 192 Interchange is constructed. Also they [ToL] should specifically address commercial vehicles on ToL roads and the safety adjacent to Ecole des Voyageurs and Topham Elementary.鈥�

Let鈥檚 work together to keep our communities safe and liveable.

Geraldine Jordan, North 91原创 resident