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32 Avenue residents win city support

Surrey council will examine truck traffic at request of neighbours

After months of lobbying by a group of South Surrey residents, Surrey City Council has agreed to take a step towards removing truck traffic from 32 Avenue.

A motion to request that TransLink remove the truck-route designation on 32 Avenue was approved by all council members Monday, however, one councillor warned any changes to the thoroughfare are unlikely “to happen overnight.”

“The motion is in response to concerns raised by community members, but there is no certainty at all that TransLink will remove the designation,” Coun. Bob Bose told Peace Arch News Wednesday.

Earlier Monday, a group calling themselves the 32nd Avenue Alliance made a presentation to council highlighting their concerns with the large amount of diesel trucks using the route to and from Campbell Heights industrial park.

The main concerns of the group – formed earlier this year, comprised of residents in Morgan Creek, Rosemary Heights, Kensington Prairie and Grandview Heights – are public safety, public health and noise.

Alliance co-chair and Surrey mayoral candidate Ross Buchanan said the group was very happy with the outcome.

“We’ve been trying for a year to have the opportunity to speak directly to our mayor and council,” Buchanan said. “We’re really absolutely pleased that the mayor and council stepped up to the leadership role on this.”

Buchanan said the group is “highly optimistic” that TransLink will remove the truck-route designation along 32 Avenue. He also defended the city, noting it was “dealing with a mistake that was made years ago,” when the plans for development in Campbell Heights were initially made.

Bose agreed that the underlying issue that needs to be addressed is the traffic generated by the many warehouses at Campbell Heights, pointing to a motion he put forth two weeks ago suggesting a traffic-impact analysis be done before any further development is approved in the area.

“We need to take a look at the development in Campbell Heights and understand what traffic it will generate,” he said. “There was never a traffic analysis done there.”

That motion, Bose said, was referred to staff for further review.