The Municipality of Grey Highlands may consider banning large truck traffic on Wilcox Road near Ceylon.
At its meeting on July 17, council considered a letter from Wilcox Lake Road resident John Sleeman that outlined damage heavy truck traffic has caused to the road. Sleeman’s letter included pictures of the state of the road.
Trucks are using Wilcox Lake Road to access a fill operation in the local area. In his letter to council, Sleeman said for the 30 years he has lived on the road it has been in good shape, until recently.
“However, for some time now, it has been entirely unacceptable,” Sleeman wrote.
Coun. Paul Allen lifted the letter from the consent agenda for further discussion.
“This is becoming quite a problem,” Allen said, who said the road was not designed for constant use by empty trucks.
Chris Cornfield, the municipality’s director of transportation and public spaces, said the trucks travelling to the fill operation should be accessing Wilcox Lake Road from Grey Road 4 to the north. He said the fill operation was required to submit a haul route to the municipality detailing where the trucks can travel.
Cornfield said the fill operation is scheduled to conclude at the end of this year and the road will be reconstructed at the expense of the fill operators. He said if the haul route isn’t being followed, municipal staff can contact the fill operators to “hammer home” the requirements of the route.
Cornfield also pointed out that Grey County has construction happening nearby on one of its roads and that could be affecting the routes taken by the truck drivers.
“I’m hoping this is something that might change when construction slows down,” he said.
Council requested a follow up report on the matter, including the possibility of designating the road a “no haul route.”
“The quicker it’s on there, the sooner the other trucks will stop using that road,” said Allen.
