Kelowna City Council permanently close Ellis to heavy trucks

[Bsuds]

And we have the privilege of paying to park so we can spend money in their shops.

[cv23]

The change of the truck route from Ellis to Gordon will not bring people downtown and it will not increase safety within our community.
What it does show is that Wally and our latest edition of Council will pander to small private interest groups at the expense of others.

[GreyGoose]

The change of the truck route from Ellis to Gordon will not bring people downtown and it will not increase safety within our community.
What it does show is that Wally and our latest edition of Council will pander to small private interest groups at the expense of others.

NOT true...we're talking downtown here, not a back alley.

I'm sure once you start to see large buildings going up and thousands of new jobs being created, you may possibly have a more positive opinion.

[grammafreddy]

In which century?

Anyone could have put a 20-storey building anywhere downtown in the past before this new downtown plan. Nobody did. They won't be now and not for quite some time into the future. Why hasn't 24 been built? Council approved that a long time ago - before Walter Grey even.

[Fancy]

NOT true...we're talking downtown here, not a back alley.

I'm sure once you start to see large buildings going up and thousands of new jobs being created, you may possibly have a more positive opinion.

What thousands of new jobs?

[LoneWolf_53]

NOT true...we're talking downtown here, not a back alley.

I'm sure once you start to see large buildings going up and thousands of new jobs being created, you may possibly have a more positive opinion.

What thousands of new jobs?

It's going to take a lot of minimum wage workers to serve all those lattes, glasses of wine, and cheese platters.

No doubt there'll be a need for a few doormen and boot polishers as well.

[cv23]

The change of the truck route from Ellis to Gordon will not bring people downtown and it will not increase safety within our community.
What it does show is that Wally and our latest edition of Council will pander to small private interest groups at the expense of others.

NOT true...we're talking downtown here, not a back alley.

I'm sure once you start to see large buildings going up and thousands of new jobs being created, you may possibly have a more positive opinion.

Sadly most of downtown Kelowna could easily be mistaken for a back alley because it has NOTHING to offer otherwise it would already be heavily developed. The recent Bernard improvements will not bring people/shoppers to the downtown but will actually chase them away to the malls and other areas where there is an abundance of easily accessible, close to the businesses they wish to patronize FREE parking.
Other than you the only people talking about jobs downtown is City council and those jobs are not new ones being created but existing jobs moved to the downtown and done so with heavy subsidies from the local taxpayers rather than the private sector. With reduced parking and more difficult access to downtown businesses I would venture to say there may just be a reduction of jobs downtown as merchants and other employers will likely chose to locate/relocate away from the downtown core and all it's issues.

[exnihilonihilfit]

Less than 2 years ago, without fanfare and without consultation, the City decided to close the Ellis Street Truck Route from 7pm to 7am, diverting all night truck traffic to Gordon Drive. Disregarding the single family homes and duplexes along Gordon and west to St. Paul and east to Burtch (Lower Glenmore), and Centurion and Kiwanis Tower condos and the square blocks of condos and apartments opposite, and the new Regency Northwood Seniors’ Resort, their stated prime rationale was the “increased residential component on Ellis“.
Once again without consultation, the City has decided to completely shut down all truck traffic on Ellis and are looking to upgrade Gordon to handle the expected daily increase of 400 trucks.

There’s not a lot that can be done to move any more traffic. North of Springfield, Gordon Drive narrows considerably where it originally was only a single lane in both directions. Instead of continuing the bike lanes, the City has already removed the boulevards and banned parking during peak hours to accommodate an additional lane each way.

In addition to exacerbating the parking problems on the side streets, this has created an extremely dangerous situation for pedestrians and home owners. There is absolutely no buffer against the traffic. In 2 accidents during this school year, in a period of 2 weeks, cars travelling on Gordon have ended up in the first and second yards on Stockwell, one of them taking out the stop / street sign. This is where the Store Front and Bankhead School students cross, where parents and kids and seniors cross to attend programs at the Martin Centre, or services at the many churches in the area, or to skate at Stuart Park.

Across the street, several vehicles have jumped the curb over the years, the last a truck that took out the home owner’s fence and caused debris to make a hole in his roof. He now has a 4 foot concrete barrier in front of his place, courtesy of the City.

Compounding the problem are the obstacles on the sidewalk - poles, metal utility containers, waste and recycling containers (no accommodation for them on the road) - sometimes forcing pedestrians and scooters directly onto the road.

Contrast Gordon with Spall Road, where there is no residential or business components, where there are wide multi-lanes equipped with safe and proper turning lanes and lights and easy access to the Clement connector.

There is far more rationale to close the Gordon Drive truck route - close it and continue the bike lanes right through to the Cawston Multi-Purpose Pathway. And the City should be asking for input from all stakeholders before they make these decisions - a public meeting with Council would be the best venue to accomplish this.

If you agree, phone or email the Mayor and Council. You will find contact information on the City web site (www.Kelowna.ca) or in the phone book.

You can also contact one of the 3 neighbourhood associations that border this section of Gordon Drive - one, Glenmore Valley Community Association (GVCA), is a holding an open meeting with Councillor Singh in attendance, at the Vineland St. Church, Nov. 28, 7 pm.

　

[tootall23]

Well said gardener supreme. This is just another example of a vocal minority speaking out. The squeaky wheel gets the grease!
Time for the affected residents on Clement and Gordon to speak out and be heard.

[LoneWolf_53]

X2

[LordEd]

Letters truck in over new route
by Contributed - Story: 83876
Nov 28, 2012 / 8:43 pm

Re: Linda Zorns letter on Castanet regarding "Truck Route" Nov. 24/2012 'Truck Traffic on Gordon Drive Decreases in the past 5 Years'.

I just want to comfort Linda and possibly all the residences and businesses on Gordon Drive that are concerned, with a study that was done from 2007 to 2010, BEFORE Ellis street allowed only 12 hour truck traffic, as well as the two times Ellis street was CLOSED to all traffic including trucks.

Here's a direct quote from the report to city council, and what their decision to Close Ellis St. as a truck route was based on: "Over all, the heavy truck traffic volume has decreased on Gordon drive over the past five years, as shown on the table below" The report further states, "More Importantly, it shows the truck traffic during the two times in 2010 and 2012 when Ellis street was closed for construction and ALL Truck traffic was diverted to alternate routes.

Despite the closure of Ellis, Truck traffic has continued to decrease." These stats were captured during the Ellis street closure in May of 2010, and Sept, 2012. Daily volumes 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

2007 - Total vehicles 11,600 - Heavy Trucks 2190
2010 - Total vehicles 7225 - Heavy trucks 1215
2012 - Total vehicles 9510 - Heavy Trucks 770

I think this is Proof that by Closing Ellis street as a Truck route will NOT add 400 more trucks daily to Gordon Drive, even when Ellis street was Closed!

The full report is on the city of Kelowna's web site http://www.kelowna.ca, and encourage everyone to read it. City Council did do their homework, and have been responsible in making their decisions based on these facts.

Rod Friesen

[LordEd]

Now, i'd like to point out how this is wrong. In particular, the statement:

I think this is Proof that by Closing Ellis street as a Truck route will NOT add 400 more trucks daily to Gordon Drive, even when Ellis street was Closed!

In the council report "http://www.kelowna.ca/CityPage/Docs/PDFs%5C%5CCouncil%5CMeetings%5CCouncil%20Meetings%202012%5C2012%2D11%2D19%5CItem%206%2E3%20%2D%20Ellis%20Street%20Truck%20Route%2Epdf", it states:

Recent data collection shows a daily average of 400 heavy trucks on Ellis Street over the 12 hour operating period.

How does showing stats about a decrease in traffic on Gordon equate to the fact that 400 trucks no longer operating on Ellis will not use Gordon? The trucks are not magically going to disappear.

[theyeti]

who was it that counted these cars ?? where did theses numbers come from ??

[Fancy]

I couldn't get the link to work and haven't been able to find the report on the city site.

[LordEd]

Here's mine tried again

Link Again

Looks like my report might be the one referred to in the letter. That particular bit of information is useless as the report does not indicate traffic on Gordon during a non-closure. Yes it went down, but how much traffic is on Gordon under normal circumstances?

If 'ellis closed temporarily' means 770 trucks on Gordon, and recent reports indicate 400 trucks per day on Ellis, that would mean normal traffic on Gordon is 370/day, and the change would be doubling that.