The Township of Warwick has introduced new heavy truck restrictions to protect residents and municipal infrastructure.
Council approved a new bylaw at its recent meeting which will see signage placed on designated roads prohibiting heavy trucks from travelling on them unless an exemption applies.
Exemptions include local deliveries, emergency services, residents travelling to or from properties on affected roads, contractors providing services to adjacent properties, and vehicles performing work on behalf of the township. Mayor Todd Case said the regulations became necessary with major construction projects underway, including work on Churchill Line and the installation of Watford's first set of traffic lights.
"We have the construction project going on right now at Confederation [Line] and Nauvoo [Road]," Case said. "We're putting traffic lights, and some of the other infrastructure that's needed, into the ground. So in doing this construction there's detours of course, and we're finding that transport trucks are using our residential streets, as well as other folks are utilizing them to go around the construction."
Case said the safety of residents must always come first.
"To be very honest with you, people are blowing through stop signs, speeding, transport trucks are on the roads that aren't supposed to be there, and we wanted to put a little more teeth into our bylaw," said Case.
Public Works Manager Kyle Chisholm said protecting the infrastructure is important as well.
"Residential roads are designed to accommodate neighbourhood traffic, not continuous heavy truck volumes," Chisholm said. "When trucks leave designated routes, they accelerate wear on municipal roads, increase future maintenance costs, and reduce the lifespan of infrastructure. These restrictions help preserve our road network while construction is underway."
Case said Lambton OPP have increased patrols and laid a significant number of tickets for a variety of infractions.
The township started exploring the possibility of traffic lights at the intersection in 2023.
