Trucks asked to stick to Second Street

    After meeting with stakeholders Friday, the town is directing trucks coming through Fort Frances to use Second Street to help ease downtown traffic flow problems resulting from road construction.
    Tractor trailers passing through town are instructed to stick to Second Street, while trucks bound for the International Bridge are directed to use Second Street East and then Mowat Avenue to get there.
    Trucks going to the Abitibi mill must use Front Street.
    “With the way the trucks were going through the centre of town, they were having an unbelievably hard time negotiating corners. So in the interest of health and safety, in the interim we’ve decided—with input from the truckers and all the relevant administration—to have the truck traffic go down Second Street until this project’s done,” said town CAO Mark McCaig on Friday afternoon.
    The rerouting is expected to be in effect until Sept. 17.
    “We know it’s a great inconvenience, and a lot of trucks have been using Second Street anyway for safety reasons. They’re concerned about making these tight corners,” said McCaig.
    “We’ve gotten a lot of complaints from the people on Second Street and we appreciate the fact this is an inconvenience for them, to have all these trucks going down their street. But in the interests of the overall health and safety of the community, we believe this is the best of a whole bunch of bad solutions,” he added. “All of them are very inconvenient.
    “But the trucks have to get to the border. They have to get to the mill. We have them in the centre of town. That’s the reality of the community,” noted McCaig. “And we have to try and find solutions that are good for everybody—the truckers, the residents, the children. It’s a dicey situation.”
    The town has drafted up letters explaining the truck route and the reason for the interim measure, and had them hand-delivered to Second Street residents on Friday.
    “If they have concerns, we encourage them to contact the administration. We know it’s a hardship for people on Second Street. We do appreciate that, and are sensitive to that,” said McCaig.
    “But if we start pushing these trucks more and more to the centre of town to some of these streets that just aren’t made for them to make corners, the potential for accidents, health and safety concerns, and poles being hit is just too great.”