At the last meeting before the civic election, Regina City Council passed a motion that will see 9th Avenue North removed as a trucking route.
The leading voice behind the motion was Ward 9 Councillor Jason Mancinelli, who says the motion has been a long time coming, as he’s been working on it since 2017.
He adds he happy to finally see it come into effect.
“Moving forward, I think the residents in that corner of the city can expect a little bit more of a feeling of safety in the coming days as this gets implemented,” said Mancinelli. “One of the other things I’ve discovered going through this process is that no one’s really calculating what efficiency means in terms of trucking and transporting. The shortest point between two destinations isn’t necessarily efficient, it’s just short.”
The trucking industry has voiced their displeasure over the move saying it’s going to lead to delays and increased emissions, which Mancinelli argued is not the case.
He says to the industry he may come off as anti-trucking by proposing this motion, but that could not be more wrong.
“We all need trucking goods. Like I said in the meeting, everything I’m wearing, everything I’m eating, we’re in Regina, we’re landlocked, everything comes by truck,” said Mancinelli. “I’m not anti-trucking. I think it’s that time in our society when we’re really looking at what efficiency means, not just for dollars, but for emissions, for outcomes. To use that lens to study these problems, I think is what future generations are expecting of us because that’s what’s going to make the difference.”
He says the residents in Ward 9 were outraged by trucks going through the area, so he’s happy to finally bring them results.
He adds he hopes there isn’t too much backlash from the Saskatchewan Trucking Association, who strongly condemned the move.
“I think there’s going to be disappointment, I hope not backlash,” said Mancinelli. “If anything, I hope to work with the trucking industry in future years, if I’m still a councillor. I think that they do need access to our city, I think that planning forward means just that, not just making something so and hoping people adapt to it. That’s not successful planning.”
