Only days remain to submit your thoughts about proposed truck routes in Hamilton, Ont., with city planners extending a related deadline until July 30.

The Ontario Trucking Association (OTA) notes the draft map recommends significant changes to existing routes. Multiple sections, for example, would limit truck traffic to daytime hours between 7 am and 7 pm.

City staff are scheduled to make their final recommendations to a related council subcommittee in September, with city council expected to review and approve a final route before the end of the year.

The Hamilton Truck Route Master Plan would represent the first significant change to existing truck routes since 2010.

A full-time truck route is to connect existing and planned heavy industry and the provincial highway network. But it also needs to connect well enough to avoid excess travel time and ensure a feasible redundant route is available if the truck route is temporarily available, the city notes.

One or more truck route connections are to be established at each provincial highway or municipal parkway interchange, and with each bordering truck route in adjacent municipalities.

The study itself is looking to recognize and minimize the impact of truck traffic while also supporting the movement of goods. And the goal is to develop, evaluate, and recommend altenrative truck route networks, along with policies and tools to mitigate challenges.

Any vehicle or trailer weighing more than 4,500 kg is required to use the truck route, although trucks can stray off course when making local deliveries.

Details on the plan can be found at www.engage.hamilton.ca/TRMP.