Commercial truck traffic is once again rolling through downtown Kamloops.

Signage on the routes leading into downtown Kamloops, which had been directing tractor-trailers to continue using a Summit Drive detour, were removed by the City of Kamloops on Wednesday.

That came a day after Kamloops City Council quashed a pilot project which had extended the heavy truck detour, which was first established in late April for the start of the Lansdowne sewar replacement project.

While Lansdowne fully reopened on November 10th, the City decided to keep Lansdowne closed to commercial vehicle traffic as it began implementing a 6 month pilot program to test the traffic impact of keeping that route, as well as Seymour Street, free of heavy trucks permanently.

However, city council on Tuesday voted to put an end to the test.

“This was a hastily-made decision in my opinion, that does not reflect all of the factors that we should have had when creating such a significant impact, including the environmental impact,” said Councillor Katie Neustaeter, who initiated the vote.  “Winter does not seem like the best time to do trial-and-error and discover whether someone dies, like happened on Columbia so tragically not that long ago.”

Neustaeter says she was motivated to make the call after taking time recently to review commercial vehicle traffic along the Summit Drive detour.

“Of particular concern is the high school [Sa-Hali Secondary], the numbers that are going through there, taking them down Summit. Again, there have never been such heavy loads, in such extreme numbers,” argued Neustaeter.

Her position was backed by Councillor Bill Sarai, who suggested the pilot increased the risk of major traffic disruptions during the winter months.

“It would take one jack-knifed truck. That’s probably happened before, but I think it would happen on a more consistent basis because of the weather, or inexperienced drivers, or not chaining-up,” said Sarai.  “But we would wear that. Look what council did. They changed the truck route and now there’s a truck sideways on Summit and everybody’s blocked and they can’t get up the hill. There’s no alternate route there.”

The City of Kamloops would later point to the loss of the Red Bridge, and the subsequent traffic pattern changes, as another motivating factor for scuttling the detour.

Despite the pilot coming to a premature end, the City’s Transportation Department is still continuing with a larger, overall study of high-weight and dangerous goods routes throughout Kamloops.

The results of that study, which is expected to make recommendations on commercial truck routes through downtown and the rest of the city, is expected to be complete by mid-2025.

Lansdowne and Seymour are currently the only routes through downtown Kamloops designated for commercial truck traffic.

While Seymour Street is not as heavily utilized by drivers, Lansdowne is the preferred route for tractor-trailer operators coming into the city from the area highways.

An average of 340 overweight trucks were using Lansdowne every weekday before the start of the sewar replacement project in late April, including 150 articulated trucks, many of which are destined for the mill.

Lansdowne provides a direct, one-way connection to the Overlanders Bridge for access to north Kamloops and the heavy-truck route to the Airport, while also acting as the fastest gateway to industrial operations in the Mission Flats area, including the Kruger’s pulp operation.

That Mill, one of the largest single employers in Kamloops, is supplied by trucks which roll into Kamloops hauling wood chips and other forestry products produced throughout the region.