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http://www.capebretonpost.com/Living/201...-topic-of-chamber-of-commerce-meeting-/1

Julie Collins - Cape Breton Post

Guest speaker Bruce Evans, left, chats with Lynn Clarke of Rollie’s Wharf restaurant prior to Monday’s meeting of the Sydney and Area Chamber of Commerce at the Best Western North Star in North Sydney.

Marshalling yard topic of chamber of commerce meeting

Published on April 4, 2011
Staff ~ The Cape Breton Post RSS Feed

NORTH SYDNEY — A marshalling yard to handle Marine Atlantic’s commercial traffic was the topic of Monday’s regular meeting of the Sydney and Area Chamber of Commerce at the North Star Best Western.

Guest speaker Bruce Evans, an independent consultant working in co-operation with CBCL Limited, gave an overview of the progress of a feasibility study into a proposed marshalling yard initiated under the direction of the Northside Economic Development Assistance Corporation (NEDAC).

His presentation focused on his work developing an early-stage feasibility study to identify concepts of what the facility could look like, which potential sites would be suitable, what types of economic spinoffs are possible, and what impacts it might have on the local surrounding area.

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He added that truckers parked along Highway 105 are inconvenienced because they can’t leave their vehicles.

According to Marine Atlantic’s most recent annual report, about 400,000 passengers use the ferry services to travel back and forth between North Sydney and Newfoundland. There are close to a quarter of a million vehicles and almost 100,000 of those are 18-wheel trucks.

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Evans noted that 50 per cent of the goods headed to Newfoundland go through Marine Atlantic’s ferry service, along with about 90 per cent of the perishables, adding that the ferry service is obviously a very vital economic link for the region.

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The objectives of the study are to identify potential sites. The site of the soon to be defunct North Sydney Community Forum is an obvious choice because it’s contiguous to the existing Marine Atlantic yard.

Referring to the community forum site, Evans said there are about 36 acres of land, 17 separate parcels and at least 11 different owners.

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He said there are many locations and real estate issues to consider, including inquires from people looking to sell land for the marshalling yard.

Evans said stakeholder input is vital to the study.

The obvious stakeholders are Marine Atlantic, the truckers through the Atlantic Provinces Trucking Association, the Cape Breton Regional Municipality, local police agencies and those people living near the site of the community forum.

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Recent years have seen huge lineups of commercial traffic along Highway 105 and backlogs in traffic have raised concerns about public safety.

A marshalling yard can’t come soon enough for Cpl. Ron MacDonald of the RCMP Cape Breton traffic services.

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