A proposal to restrict tractor-trailer access to Duckworth Street in downtown St. John's for several months of the year is raising concerns in the trucking industry.

Forcing tractor-trailer operators to travel longer distances to get from downtown to the northeast section of the city will lead to increased transportation costs, an expense that will be felt in the pockets of consumers, said Gerry Dowden, Newfoundland vicechairman of the Atlantic Provinces Trucking Association.

"The route that we take now is the shortest possible route", said Dowden, who's also a past-president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Carriers Association. "You have to accommodate the trucks as much as you can with respect to deliveries and getting to the customers on time."

Dowden said an alternate route will add time and higher fuel costs to trucking operations. "Any additional inconvenience to the service that we provide would have to be pased on to the end user," he said.

Coun. Paul Sears, chairman of the city's police and traffic committee - which plans to study the issue further and make a recommendation to council in the new year - said he's fully aware of the cost arguement. "But we have to be concerned about downtown residents and motorists who frequently see tractor-trailers travelling through narrow corridors," he said. "The most direct route from the downtown to northeast sections of the city does not necessarily mean it's the most appropriate route."

Sears said Duckworth Street is a busy, narrow stretch of road, particularly when vehicles are parked on both sides of the street, and safety is of key importance. "We'll certainly consult with the trucking industry, particularly as it relates to using that corridor through the downtown to access King's Bridge Road for that north-south link to Stavanger Drive and other areas," Sears said.

"We're the oldest city in North America, and a wooden city at that, and we still allow aviation fuel, for instance, to be transported through the downtown."

But Dowden said there are options other than restricting truck traffic on Duckworth Street. "If they're going to look at a traffic restriction for Duckworth Street for a certain period of time, eliminate parking on one side of the street," he suggested. that would help the traffic flow more smoothly, he added.

Jon Summers, president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Independent Truckers' Association, said the city also consider making Duckworth Street one way as a means of enhancing traffic flow.

Summers said when city councillors debated whether to allow truck traffic to continue along King's Bridge Road last year, the trucking industry clearly demonstrated that access through downtown to connect to the city's north-south link is the most economical and efficient route. "There's no other route," he said.

Bob Ledrew Jr., the carriers association representative on the city's police and traffic committee, said until St. John's comes up with "a more user-friendly road to service the downtown," there's no other feasible or viable route for truckers, other than the Duckworth Street/King's Bridge Road link.

But Coun. Art Puddister, who raised the downtown traffic issue during a police and traffic committee meeting last month, suggested tractor-trailer traffic through Duckworth Street could be restricted from May to December.

Truckers could use Pitts Memorial Drive to access Columbus Drive via the Kilbride exit in order to head to the northeast section of St. John's, he said.

Puddister said, however, whn it isn't feasible to do so during the January to April winter period - in cases when the Kilbride ramp is too steep to use during slippery conditions - tractor-trailers heading east could be permitted access to Duckworth Street. Roughly $6 million is required to upgrade the ramp.

He said people are concerned about the number of large trucks that use the downtown as a route to the east end and the northeast sections of the city.

LeDrew said he finds it odd that an arguement is being made to force tractor-trailers to go around the city from May to December, but to allow them to travel through Duckworth Street from January to April - a period when streets are slippery, snow-covered and made narrower by snow banks.

Craig Jackson, The Telegram, Wednesday, December 8, 2004.