WINDSOR, Ont. — Trucks will be banned from entering westbound E.C. Row Expressway off Dougall Avenue in Windsor, Ont.

According to the Windsor Star, Mayor Eddie Francis cast the deciding vote himself after a deadlock by city council. He voted to restrict access to trucks because of safety issues related to "trucks collecting in the left-turn lane" and "causing backups."

Trucks coming off of highway 401 are known to use the Dougall Ave. stretch as a shortcut to the Ambassador Bridge, rather than follow the E.C. Row Expressway- Huron Church route all the way through to the border.

Some other trucks not destined for the U.S. are reportedly using the shortcut to reach the Brighton Beach industrial area as well. That area, incidentally, is the location selected for the construction of a new public bridge to Detroit.

The bylaw, approved on a six-month trial basis, will only go into effect if the province agrees to post signs on westbound Highway 401 explaining the restriction to truckers before they enter the city.

According to the Star, this was a last-minute provision that was added to save the bill from being defeated.

City administrators who were opposed to the plan told council that blocking trucks from Dougall would only spill commercial traffic onto other neighborhoods along the city’s grid.