Traffic from aggregate pits south of town continues to be the pits for residents along Thomas, Wellington and Water streets. But hopefully, a meeting later this Thursday between the town, Canada Building Materials Aggregates (CBM) and residents will help resolve the situation.
The meeting will take place at the Municipal operations centre this Thursday, Aug. 26 at 9 a.m., and all affected residents are invited to attend.
At council last week, the possibility of creating bylaws to either slow truck traffic, restrict travel times or truck size – or a combination of the three, were floated as possible resolutions to the ongoing problem.
Earlier this summer, residents from these streets brought concerns forward to the town about an increase in early morning truck traffic coming to and from CBM Aggregates gravel pit on Thomas Street South.
While the town talked with CBM  officials on a few occasions to try to keep the trucks from coming before 7 a.m. “that didn’t seem to work,” explained Public Works committee chair Coun. Don Van Galen. “These people have a right to a quiet, residential neighbourhood.”
While loading privileges prior to 7 a.m. have been suspended by CBM, the trucks, mostly owned by independent firms, are still coming earlier than that so they can load quickly and get on the road again – typically to a location outside of St. Marys.
Mayor Jamie Hahn said that, in his talks with CBM officials, the idea of an open house for residents to come voice their concern was floated.
Van Galen rebuffed this idea. “They know what the problem is, they know who the offender are – the real communication has to happen with the truckers.”
Coun. Gary Boyce also scoffed at the open house idea, suggesting instead that CBM should build a bridge across the Thames River so trucks can instead exit St. Marys via Water Street.
“What is the life of this aggregate pit,” Boyce wondered. “CBM should build a bridge at their own expense – it’s the price of doing business,” he said, adding that an aggregate firm did that very thing in Caledon, the municipality in which Boyce once served as CAO.
Van Galen replied that “a bridge can’t be built in a week – but a bylaw could be.”