A petition bearing 1,724 names has been submitted to the Township of 91原创, by residents asking that 216 Street, from Highway 1 to 88 Avenue, .

A large crowd of supporters gathered at Township council on Monday night, when resident Linda Nash presented the petition to council.

鈥淟et鈥檚 all work together for the greater good, in this case health and safety,鈥� Nash said.

Along with the petition, she provided council with several documents that support the group鈥檚 quest for keeping their neighbourhood clean, quiet and safe.

鈥淚 wish to thank from the bottom of my heart all the volunteers who went door-to-door gathering signatures, requesting that 216th south of 88th Avenue to the highway be restricted to local commercial traffic only. Young and old, working alike, working together for the greater good. I am so very proud of my community,鈥� she said, as the audience began to applaud and cheer.

Coun. Petrina Arnason asked Nash for an update on the exploration of making 192 Street a full access interchange, and for more information regarding the Health Impact Assessment (HIA) for the project.

鈥淚 really was struck by what you were talking about, working together for the greater good, because I think that that is something that we all really care about and want to achieve,鈥� Arnason said.

Nash replied that her understanding is that 192 Street is in the 10- to 20-year plan, not for the near future. She believes it is the 鈥渕ost obvious solution鈥� to take trucks into Port Kells.

In terms of the HIA, Nash said it is UBC professor 鈥渆xpert opinion鈥� that the 10-year-old certificate is not adequate.

鈥淣o one is opposed to local commercial traffic delivering groceries, we respect that,鈥� Nash said.

鈥淲e need truckers, it鈥檚 all part of our lives 鈥� we get our goods and services this way, which is absolutely wonderful. It鈥檚 just a matter of how it happens, and as long as health is honoured.鈥�

Coun. Kim Richter asked Nash to read the preamble of the petition, and to clarify if any municipalities have signed on to the David Suzuki Foundation鈥檚 campaign to give Canadians the legal right to live in a healthy environment.

Nash replied that yes, 155 municipalities in Canada have joined.

Following Nash鈥檚 delegation, a second Walnut Grove resident, Nathan Jones, spoke to council.

He said there are many positive examples of projects that work well in the Township, but he opposes 鈥渦nnecessary spending on infrastructure.鈥�

鈥淔or me, this isn鈥檛 about truck routes, or car routes, or EV (electric vehicle) lanes or HOV (high occupancy vehicle) lanes or stop lights or stop signs. The challenges that we have here, they鈥檙e not technical problems in search of a perfect interchange, these are moral problems. And they鈥檙e routed in the political differences between the movement of commercial goods taking precedence over the health and safety of the families and children of this community,鈥� he said, as the audience applauded him.

Jones said the 鈥渃ommunity has woken up鈥� and will continue to push back against the project.

鈥淲e will do everything within our personal and collective power to not only fight this project on the basis of its legality, we will fight this project on the basis of its morality for the health and safety implications that (the Township) have chosen, and willfully chosen, to ignore.鈥�