Article content

After years of local advocacy, Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe said the city would ban transport trucks on a section of Manotick Main Street.

In a social media video posted Monday, Sutcliffe says the City of Ottawa is taking “some important steps” to reduce heavy truck traffic in the south Ottawa village, including immediately banning transport trucks on a section of Manotick Main Street.

Article content

“First, we will reduce heavy truck traffic on Main Street and Rideau Valley Drive,” Sutcliffe said.

“Except for a short period each spring, non-local heavy goods vehicles will not be permitted on these roads and will be required to use alternative routes.”

Next comes a “comprehensive truck route study” for the village early next year, with the city examining options to remove Bridge Street from the truck route network entirely.

“This will be the first in-depth look at truck traffic in this region in almost 20 years,” Sutcliffe said.

An August 2023 heavy truck traffic study by the Manotick Village & Community Association showed that on average, 967 heavy trucks passed through the intersection of Bridge and Main streets each weekday between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. .

These heavy trucks often had to jump a curb onto a curb to make a turn, and “volunteers witnessed numerous opportunities for sidewalk encroachment that required pedestrians and cyclists to move for their safety.”

The community association said Bridge Street and Manotick Main should be open to local truck traffic only, to “significantly reduce” the number of trucks climbing sidewalks.

“The MVCA’s position is that any truck making a local delivery or pickup in Manotick is welcome. We are concerned, however, about the extraordinary volume of heavy trucks traveling on the community’s narrow streets without any local reason to do so. It’s a matter of public safety.

Share this article on your social network