Ritchot finds solution to Howden truck hauling concerns

Council for the Rural Municipality of Ritchot has created a new policy thanks to the concerns of residents of Howden. 

Local resident Jim Wilderman appeared before Ritchot Council last month asking the municipality to do something about the heavy truck traffic beating up their roads. Wilderman lives along Marchand Road. He notes though the truck traffic has been going on for years, the volume has only increased.

Wilderman says there are a few different issues. First of all, he says two properties along their road are extremely low and are currently being built up. And, Wilderman says, because the fill is free, they are building up acres, not only a mound. 

In addition to that, Wilderman says there is a trucking company down their road and the owner is turning that into a dump site. 

Wilderman says you cannot walk down the road. He says he has counted the number of tandem and semi-trucks that drive down there and knows that some days there are nearly 200 that pass through within eight hours. 

Following the delegation, Ritchot Mayor Chris Ewen said the concerns of Wilderman are justified. He promised the residents that Council would look into the matter and determine what the next steps would be. 

Ewen says Council has now made its decision. He notes the municipality has created a hauling permit, which will serve multiple purposes. First of all, he says this should help residents feel a little more comfortable with the hauling and the reason why it is happening. But also, Ewen says the individual taking out the application will need to specify both a start date and an end date for the hauling. 

Hauling permits can be acquired from the municipal office. This is for hauling throughout the municipality, not only those driving down Marchand Road. 

"You will take a permit and then you will let us know what specifically you are hauling for, when you are starting the project, and when you expect to complete it, with month and year," explains Ewen. 

Meanwhile, the Mayor says there were two concerns from Wilderman, related to the hauling, which the municipality has looked into. First of all, Ewen says Wilderman noted the potential drainage issue and the backflow from one of the sites. He says their Public Works department is investigating this concern.

Ewen says the other concern had to do with the stabilization of the riverbank being impacted by all this fill and all this traffic. He notes the municipality has reached out to the province on the matter and has been told that there is no concern. 

Even though this decision was only made on Tuesday, Ewen says he heard that a permit application was already taken out that first day. 

Ewen says a big thank you to their Administration for finding a solution and to local Councillor Janine Boulanger for working tirelessly with the residents to see this issue resolved.