Kelowna City Council permanently close Ellis to heavy trucks

[johnhenry]

I prefer vodka + tonic but hey that's just me.

I prefer Vodka too, but it won't be at tonics.

[Anonymous123]

So here it is folks:
http://www.castanet.net/edition/news-story-92539-1-.htm#92539

If you want your voice heard, you better attend the upcoming council meetings.

[johnhenry]

It will be interesting to see what council does. According to the article there is more opposition to Gordon Drive being used as a truck route.
Gordon Drive closed to trucks - 407
Ellis Street closed to trucks - 373

Will this council follow the wishes of the people?

[grammafreddy]

It will be interesting to see what council does. According to the article there is more opposition to Gordon Drive being used as a truck route.
Gordon Drive closed to trucks - 407
Ellis Street closed to trucks - 373

Will this council follow the wishes of the people?

No.

My gut feeling is this is one time (there's many) where staff and council have their minds made up and the "public anythings" are just a mere formality to make people think they care what the public thinks. They don't. They really don't want the trucks going through their precious "Cultural District".

[Piecemaker]

Ellis is a two-lane roadway and Gordon is four-lane. There is more congestion with pedestrians and traffic on Ellis and more traffic lights...and there are more cultural and entertainment venues on Ellis. :)

[logman]

What do the people opposed think goes on in the north end of Kelowna? It's the bread and butter of a lot more people than they may realize.

[Piecemaker]

Those North-end business can continue with the heavy trucks using Gordon Drive instead of Ellis. Easier driving to take Gordon, particularly if they put a left-turn light in. Ellis gets bottle-necked with bridge, rush-hour and special-event traffic. It's a pain to truckers.

[goatboy]

It will be interesting to see what council does. According to the article there is more opposition to Gordon Drive being used as a truck route.
Gordon Drive closed to trucks - 407
Ellis Street closed to trucks - 373

Will this council follow the wishes of the people?

Wishes of the people? Statistically, both options have roughly the same opposition according to the petitions. Additionally, out of 1,600 people contacted, only 115 bothered to respond to the city's letters:

"As part of the city's desire to eliminate Ellis Street as a truck route, 1,600 residents in the Gordon Drive area and 350 business/property owners in the industrial North End were sent information on the proposed change and asked to provide input.

Of the 115 responses, 50 were opposed and 40 in favour of closing Ellis St. as a truck route."

Gordon Drive makes far more sense for truck traffic than Ellis does.

[anniekate]

If you talk to truckers that go to the northend they want the shortest, most direct route available. Extra time on the road takes away from profits especially if extra diesel is involved. No matter what council finally decides lots of people will be *bleep* about it.

[60-YEARS-in-Ktown]

I call bull on Ellis being a pain for truckers..if it was/is they would. Just continue on to Gordon..whichever is quicker.
I was one of the mailout commercial recipients.. I sat down to reply to it, but the wording was quite tricky on the mailed out page..making it harder to respond to..perhaps written thst way to support the planning department wishes.
At any rate Ellis works for me..has for over 50 years..

[Donald G]

I do not live on nor frequently use Ellis or Gordon, so will leave the "yes" or "no" to using either road to the many people more directly affected. I am, however, happy to see that there is an obvious degree of PLANNING to the roads and safety signage involved in the process resulting in the change. Unfortunately not everyone affected can or will be satisfied with the final decision and/or changes. That is what the "planners and deciders" get the big bucks for ... planning and deciding and making the public aware of the process and reasons for their decisions. Whether we, as individuals, agree with their reasoning and/or decision is another matter that will have to be addressed by each individual affected.

Another run through of the old Talmud saying, "we (usually) see things, not as they are; but as we are".

[Graphite]

I harbor much resentment against the downtown area. Being from the rest of Kelowna I do not appreciate the way the city keeps *bleep* tax monies into this area. And the new screw the rest of the city attitude I see from things like:

"Most of those who favoured the removal of Ellis as a truck route understood the difficulty of eliminating the truck route while appreciating the overall benefit to the downtown district.

Council has long wanted to eliminate Ellis as a truck route as part of its downtown strategy of having more people live, work, shop and congregate in the downtown area."

I have had enough of this bs. I am officially entering my boycott downtown forever phase.

[LoneWolf_53]

I guess the residents of Gordon Drive don't qualify as people.

I don't ever hit that area unless absolutely necessary, so don't really care if there's trucks on Ellis or not, I just think it's total BS on the part of the city, to favour residents that are brand new, or don't even exist yet, over the established ones on Gordon Drive. I'm quite sure the Gordon Drive ones pay taxes too.

A situation like that should be first come first served, so in my opinion the Gordon Drive residents are getting shafted, in favour of the snob district. They should be given a decrease in taxes as a result.

[Gixxer]

Those North-end business can continue with the heavy trucks using Gordon Drive instead of Ellis. Easier driving to take Gordon, particularly if they put a left-turn light in. Ellis gets bottle-necked with bridge, rush-hour and special-event traffic. It's a pain to truckers.

No its not. You couldn't be more wrong.

[LoneWolf_53]

Those North-end business can continue with the heavy trucks using Gordon Drive instead of Ellis. Easier driving to take Gordon, particularly if they put a left-turn light in. Ellis gets bottle-necked with bridge, rush-hour and special-event traffic. It's a pain to truckers.

No its not. You couldn't be more wrong.

Given the cost of fuel, I'd be inclined to disagree as well, since the cheapest route from point A to point B will always be the shortest route.

As there is no advanced green for trucks at Gordon Drive yet, I also can't help but feel that this is a wonderful example of putting the cart before the horse. It won't take long for traffic to back up there, when only one big rig manages to turn left during a light cycle.