By Anne Finlay-Stewart
Whence cometh the gravel?

This is just one of the questions Owen Sound residents may want to ask about a proposed zoning by-law amendment that would see a gravel yard placed just next to the Grey Bruce Health Unit building, and smack-dab in the heart of the city's long-held plan to revitalize its waterfront.

E.C.King Contracting, a division of Miller Paving, has made an application to the city of Owen Sound for the change, in order to bring multiple tractor-trailer loads of gravel downtown, after which it will be loaded onto barges at the harbour end of 17th Street East.

The conversation at City Hall has kept a tight focus on one long block of 17th Street East. But if you pull back, you will see trucks coming into the picture from... where?

The neighbours – among them the Health Unit, the Best Western Inn on the Bay, and the BDO building tenants - have raised questions about noise, dust, traffic safety and road damage. But the issues are as big as that or bigger for those on the route to and from the proposed 17th Street site.

Whether the four trucks per hour, six days a week come down Cemetery Hill, St. Mary's, 6th, 8th, 10th, they will be driving through someone's neighbourhood.

Dennis Fletcher, the transit expert whom the city has consulted about bus routes, has highlighted the 10th Street downtown congestion. So, that route is an unlikely contender, unless the trucks make a right turn at Salvation Corners. Using any of the hills south of 10th Street would mean a long drive through residential neighbourhoods and our commercial downtown core and across 10th Street.

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That leaves "the long way round" - 28th Street. But the city staff report discusses a left turn at 17th Street. Therefore, that route must also be out of contention.
The city's Engineering Services Department has found the Traffic Impact Study thus far to be inadequate. That would be expected, given that the "haul route" has not been identified. All intersections along the route will need to be studied, say the city engineers, and the roads assessed "to determine if this proposal will negatively impact the City road life cycle."

In other words: Will we be paying to rebuild these roads sooner because these heavy trucks are using our roads?

This pilot project is proposed run May to September, precisely the months during which the survivors of winter are opening their windows and getting out to enjoy their gardens, parks and waterfront. Cyclists, dogs, boarders, kids, seniors, runners and tourists are finally filling our roads and sidewalks. 

If the zoning amendment is passed and the pilot is "successful, the applicants have made it clear that the gravel haulage could be expanded. The complications of other seasons - ice, snow removal, frost damage to heavily used roads - should be considered in this application.

Anne Finlay-Stewart is Community Editor of www.owensoundhub.org. She can be reached at [email protected]