WINNIPEG — The city will take a close look at how a busy truck stop was allowed to be built adjacent to a residential area.
Residents who live on Poplynn Drive, right behind the Oak Point Highway truck stop that opened last summer, said they’re constantly dealing with idling engines and diesel fumes.
“We have the fresh air intakes at the back of our homes so we constantly have the smell of diesel exhaust running through our homes,” said Scott Gledhill, who lives on Poplynn Drive.
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On Tuesday, a civic committee approved a motion from the area’s city councillor Mike Pagtakhan that would have city staff review the bylaw that allowed the truck stop to be built where it was.
“I just want to make sure that citizens aren’t subjected to what happened here,” said Pagtakhan.
He said the bylaw needs to be changed before areas like Centreport, a trucking and industrial inland port, are developed.
“It’s for those situations that I want to make sure we have a better bylaw, a better set of regulations that govern the uses between residential areas and truck stops,” he said.
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However, if changes are made to the existing bylaw, it will be too late for people living on Poplynn Drive.
“Basically we’ve been told it happened and we’re going to have to live with it,” said Ken Valainis, another Poplynn Drive resident.
A high fence was installed as a buffer between the backyards and the truck stop and signs were posted urging truck drivers to not idle their engines and not use their horns.
However, residents said the situation is still unacceptable.