Mays Road, from Herd Road to Bell McKinnon Road, will be designated as a “no heavy truck” route, North Cowichan council decided at its meeting on April 3.
Staff have been instructed to install appropriate regulatory signage along Mays Road noting the change.
Council made the decision along with dealing with some other traffic-related issues connected to the construction of the new Cowichan District Hospital nearby.
Debby Smith, a resident of Mays Road, had raised concerns in December about the large amount of heavy trucks that she said use the small, rural road on a daily basis to avoid the weigh scales on the nearby Trans-Canada Highway.
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She said at the time that someone will be seriously hurt on Mays Road as a result, or worse.
Smith said there are no sidewalks on Mays Road and the shoulders are almost non-existent so people walking along the road are often forced to jump into the bushes to avoid the large commercial vehicles on the narrow road, which is barely wide enough for two standard cars driving past each other.
“It’s just gotten worse since we moved here,” Smith said in an interview in December.
“We see a lot of semi-trailer trucks and dump trucks come up Herd Road and take a left on Mays Road to connect with the Trans-Canada Highway to avoid the weigh scales that are south of that intersection. It’s well known in the neighbourhood that’s the case.”
Council also decided at the meeting to suspend the “no heavy trucks” restriction on Bell McKinnon Road during the construction of the new Cowichan District Hospital, and to close Herd Road, between the Trans-Canada Highway and Bell McKinnon Road, for a few months.
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“This [road closure] is needed to lower the road by about 1.5 metres, widen the road at the intersection, replace water mains, add new storm drainage works, and add underground primary hydro feed and related works,” David Conway, North Cowichan’s director of subdivision and environmental services, said in a report.
“The nature and extent of this work can best be accomplished safely and timely with the closure of Herd Road. Staff have been working with the project construction team to assess impacts to roadways in the area and concluded that motorists can get to their destinations with adequate signage, possible road repairs on Bell McKinnon Road, and traffic-control personnel in place during working hours. In general, traffic could travel with little interruption; other than trips would take longer.”