Thunder Bay police will enforce new designated truck route bylaw, city says

CBC News

· Posted: Jun 26, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

With its designated motortruck way bylaw present getting assembly approval, the City of Thunder Bay is present focused connected getting everything acceptable successful clip for its implementation.

On Monday assembly approved the bylaw, which limits wherever dense trucks tin question successful the city. It volition spell into effect connected Oct. 1, 2025 and beryllium enforced by Thunder Bay police.

When it's implemented, dense trucks volition beryllium restricted to Highways 61 and 11/17, the Harbour Expressway, Main Street, and Island Drive, unless making a transportation oregon pickup, or performing different service, successful Thunder Bay.

A representation of the way tin beryllium recovered successful the Monday, June 23 assembly agenda.

Kayla Dixon, the city's commissioner of infrastructure and operations, said enactment connected getting things acceptable for the implementation of the caller bylaw is underway.

"Getting the signage successful place," she said. "There's acceptable fines that are required to beryllium approved."

"Then the 3rd happening would beryllium really astir the acquisition piece, which I deliberation is important, some to the manufacture and to the public, to guarantee that we person compliance," Dixon said. "We privation acquisition to spell retired successful the trucking manufacture truthful that they're alert that a designated motortruck route's successful place."

Dixon said determination volition beryllium a nationalist acquisition component, arsenic well, truthful radical are alert that trucks are allowed to beryllium connected non-designated roads if they're performing a service, oregon making a pickup oregon delivery.

The bylaw itself applies to vehicles with a registered gross value of 15,000 kg oregon higher, but determination are immoderate exceptions, including metropolis vehicles actively engaged successful their duties, exigency vehicles, rider buses and vehicles transporting waste, the bylaw states.

The bylaw does not use to "vehicles travelling to the residence oregon concern premises of the proprietor oregon relation of the conveyance wherever the concern premises oregon residence is lone accessible by highways that bash not signifier portion of the designated motortruck route."

Those recovered to beryllium successful usurpation tin look fines oregon different penalties. Dixon said enforcement volition beryllium handled mostly by Thunder Bay police.

"There's astir apt going to beryllium a mates blitzes, and past look astatine immoderate ongoing compliance enforcement arsenic well," Dixon said.

A Thunder Bay constabulary spokesperson confirmed the work volition beryllium progressive successful enforcing the bylaw. Thunder Bay constabulary representatives were not disposable for interviews connected Wednesday.

The bylaw has faced absorption from surrounding townships and municipalities. Conmee and Oliver Paipoonge, for example, person said the bylaw would treble the fig of dense trucks travelling done their communities.

MPP opposed

Thunder Bay-Atikokan MPP Kevin Holland was unavailable for an interview, but said successful a connection to CBC News that he's besides opposed to the bylaw.

"I'm disappointed successful the determination made by Thunder Bay City Council regarding the implementation of the designated motortruck way bylaw," the connection reads. "Instead of moving collaboratively with myself, our government, and section communities to find a broad solution to postulation travel concerns successful the metropolis and region, the metropolis has opted to redirect 1,300 trucks per time onto a azygous route. This determination volition importantly summation postulation measurement and information concerns connected the Thunder Bay expressway."

Conmee Mayor Sheila Maxwell could not beryllium reached for remark connected Wednesday, but has told CBC successful the past that the projected Shabaqua Extension would code the concerns, arsenic it would supply a way for trucks that bypasses Conmee and Kakabeka Falls.

Earlier this month, the Ministry of Transportation told CBC News that preliminary designs for the archetypal conception of the extension, and an biology assessment, would get underway "in the coming weeks."