I'm sure companies will begin routing through Windsor to avoid any potential delays and it will most likely include more than just the Toronto garbage trucks. Depending on the time of the vote, we could begin seeing increased traffic by early Tuesday afternoon or evening.
Failure to adequately plan for this could see Huron Church a parking lot by Wednesday morning.
Strike at Sarnia border crossing could create traffic chaos
JAMES RUSK
November 2, 2007
It is not clear how much chaos would result if the workers strike. In addition to the trucks, the bridge is used by 8,000 to 9,000 cars a day, and industry sources said the alternative crossings are already operating at capacity.
The union will ask unionized truck drivers not to use the bridge, but the critical issue would be whether Canada Customs agents and immigration officers would honour picket lines, which seems likely, as they are also PSAC members, one industry official said.
Steve Whitter, director of garbage transfer, processing and disposal operations for Toronto, said that if a strike were to slow operations at Blue Water, across which the city's garbage passes on the way to Michigan, "it will slow us down, probably, but certainly not stop us."
He said that the city would be forced to send transports carrying its waste over the Ambassador Bridge at Windsor, Ont. Only empty garbage trucks are now routed there.
