Truck safety progress update “not good enough”: Mayor Sandra Easton

By Tristan Marks
NewsNow

Lincoln’s mayor and council were disappointed by the “lightweight solutions” offered by a report regarding the amount of truck traffic “laying siege” to downtown Beamsville.

“My tolerance for any of these lightweight solutions is non-existent,” said Mayor Sandra Easton in regards to the updates for items listed in the report. These were part of a truck safety resolution passed in April of last year.

Easton was outspoken in criticizing the slow progress for many of these points.

In regards to the Niagara Region’s intent to transfer Mountain Street to the Town once a new escarpment crossing is constructed, “The Region intends to transfer Mountain Street in 20, 10 years? Sorry, not good enough.”

In regards to a number of items aimed at collecting data on and reducing the number of trucks cutting through downtown Beamsville: “Nothing is happening to reduce the amount of truck traffic. What are the numbers? We haven’t even seen any numbers,” said Easton.

Easton also said the results of the truck safety blitz which took place in June demonstrated “egregious” results in the number of trucks inspected by Niagara Regional Police (NRP).

“The amount of truck traffic going down Ontario street is laying siege to the community,” said Easton, who added that anyone who thought she was “overreacting” should talk to the residents who deal with these issues daily.

However, she said that any requests for more enforcement from NRP should also be counter balanced with “positive reinforcement”.

“The police are doing all they can and the NRP should be recognized for that,” said Easton.

Easton asked staff to look into presenting updates “once every two or three months” rather than annually as had been the case for this report, especially for items involving the cooperation of the Niagara Region.
Coun. JD Pacherava voiced his agreement for the mayor’s suggestion.

“We need to bang the drums and jump up and down,” said Pachereva.

Earlier in the meeting, Coun. Dianne Rintjema announced that she would introduce a motion at an upcoming meeting to call for a report for identifying a number of regional road portions key to “improving traffic safety and economic viability” and creating a timeline for the Town to negotiate assuming responsibility over them from the Region.

“We want residents to know we are working to get something done,” said Rintjema.