As a major agricultural producer bisected by the Trans-Canada Highway and part of the Asia Pacific Gateway, Abbotsford is a significant transportation and trucking hub. Carriers hauling every conceivable type of freight including manufactured goods, heavy specialized commodities, bulk products, household goods and general freight pass through our community each day on their way to the Port of Vancouver, to and from the United States, as well as throughout the Lower Mainland and Interior of our province. Everything from highway widening and Skytrain expansion to housing requires aggregates from Abbotsford and the Fraser Valley Regional District.
However, due to regional influences such as a shortage of industrial land and the resulting high cost of rent, many truckers are challenged in finding adequate truck parking across the region, including in the City of Abbotsford.
As a Council, we recognized this ongoing and growing demand early in our mandate by ensuring the City updates its Commercial Truck Parking Strategy as one of our key Strategic Plan initiatives. In December 2023 we supported staff in proceeding to Stage 2 of the Commercial Truck Parking Strategy, the engagement phase.
We know the Commercial Truck Parking Strategy impacts many members of our community and we are inviting community members to be a part of the solution. We’ve met with industry experts, such as the BC Trucking Association and Canadian Trucking Association of BC, about their ideas and challenges and on Wednesday, April 24 and Thursday, April 25 the City is hosting two open house events to take feedback and questions from the public on the issue of commercial truck parking. The sessions will both take place at the Ag Rec Centre at 32470 Haida Dr. from 5:30 to 8 p.m. People who cannot attend in-person can also participate with an online survey on Let’s Talk Abbotsford.
Meanwhile, as a Council we are continuing to reach out to senior levels of government for support with the commercial truck parking issue. Last month, Mayor Siemens discussed issues around the lack of industrial land that could be used for commercial trucking at his meeting with BC Agriculture Minister and Abbotsford-Mission MLA Pam Alexis. We are also advocating for truck parking as part of the Trans-Canada Highway expansion project the Province is undertaking, and we are hopeful that we will be able to meet some of the demand.
The trucking industry has been a vital part of our local economy and it’s up to us to make sure it gets the support it needs to continue to be a part of our economy in the future.
Abbotsford City Council