A meeting hosted by the newly formed 32nd Avenue Corridor Family and Community Coalition will take place next week in an attempt to rally support for a ban on diesel trucks on the busy South Surrey street.
Russ Buchanan, co-chair of the coalition, said 32 Avenue has become a main route to and from the Campbell Heights industrial park, and estimated “an average of 700 trucks” per day use the road as a shortcut to Highway 99, rather than going north to Highway 10.
“Over the last year, this mega, 2,000-acre industrial park has been the reason so many more trucks are using 32 Avenue – and Campbell Heights is only 10 per cent full. Potentially, we’re looking at 7,000 trucks a day,” Buchanan said, adding that the group is calling for a ban on large diesel semi trucks west of 176 Street.
“That’s a lot of trucks coming within metres of our homes, nursing homes, playgrounds and schools.”
The group is to meet Thursday, 7 p.m. in the library at Morgan Elementary, 3366 156A St. They have three major concerns, public safety, public health and noise.
“I just don’t think you can have high-density neighbourhoods adjacent to a three-square-mile industrial park, with thousands of trucks slicing through those communities every day,” he said.
The coalition has tried to discuss the matter with the City of Surrey, Buchanan said, but have not been meet with a favourable response.
“The city owns that (Campbell Heights) property, so they basically act as their own developers… it’s a conflict of interest,” he said.
Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts was in Halifax this week, at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities convention, and was unavailable for comment. The city’s engineering department also did not return calls seeking comment.