traffic

Peel testing off-peak deliveries

BRAMPTON, Ont. – Peel Region, on the western edge of Toronto, will run a pilot project to test off-peak deliveries between July and December – and it has recruited some major operations to participate. Participants include the LCBO, Loblaw Companies, PepsiCo, Walmart Canada, and Weston Foods. The region’s Smart Freight Centre will support the project with expertise from the University of Toronto, McMaster University and York University. Deloitte Canada will be advisors on the project. The goal is to help optimize highways and other major arteries in the area, focusing on where freight is moving, maximizing existing infrastructure, and seeing what infrastructure could benefit from new investment.

Stormy truck route debate rages in Thunder Bay

THUNDER BAY, ON - A longstanding dispute over truck routes in Thunder Bay, Ontario is heading toward another city council vote later this month, and the stakes are particularly high for Santorelli's. The truck stop has been in business for 65 years - 45 of which have been under the current owners -- and welcomes truck traffic along Arthur Street. So do the 35 employees working in the restaurant and accompanying tire shop. But city council is looking to close much of Arthur Street and Dawson Road (Highway 102) to anything above 15,000 kilograms, squeezing more trucks onto the east-west Harbour Expressway that runs between the two routes. It isn't the first time a traffic change has affected the business. The truck stop dates back to a time when Arthur Street was part of the TransCanada Highway. Thirty percent of the business was lost when the nearby Harbour Extension was opened in 2008, says Lorne Kellar, Santorelli's controller. But it isn't the first time that the idea of further restricting the city's truck traffic has passed through council chambers, either.

Champlain Bridge Lane Closures, Detours This Weekend

LONGUEUIL, QC -- The final major work blitz at the Champlain Bridge is scheduled for this upcoming weekend meaning there will be lane closures, detours and backed up traffic for those wanting to travel between Montreal and Brossard. The work is part of a three-leg series to install modular trusses under the bridge to support the edge girders and ensure safe passage for users until the new Champlain Bridge opens. The work will be done over the weekend, from 10 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Monday, to minimize the effect on traffic. Drivers are advised to plan their trips in advance and consider other itineraries in order to avoid the Champlain Bridge corridor as much as possible. Maps showing the closures and detours for the blitz are available online.