Truck traffic draws complaints

SPRINGDALE - Walt Laster of Springdale grew tired of big trucks going through his street headed for a construction site for a new junior high school.

“They were tearing up the street,” Laster said. “Julio Road wasn’t designed to have that much weight on it.”

The speed of truck traffic also was a safety threat, Laster said. A neighbor with an autistic child stopped one of the trucks to ask the driver to slow down, Laster said.

“The driver laughed at him,” he said.

After Laster complained at a City Council meeting, the problem was taken care of, he said.

Problems with large trucks on residential streets come up occasionally, said Sam Goade, the city’s director of public works. Large trucks are supposed to stay on marked truck routes, he said, unless they are making a delivery. Trucks making local deliveries should have paperwork to prove where they are delivering, he said.

The routes sometimes are ignored, Goade said.

“Trucks tend to take the shortest route,” Goade said. “They’ll do what they can get away with.”

Drivers ignoring the truck route regulations can be issued a ticket to appear in court, said City Attorney Ernest Cate. If found guilty, the fine could go up to $1,000, Cate said.

The City Council will consider an ordinance to make enforcement of the rule easier, Cate said, to ease the concerns of the drivers of smaller vehicles.

Callers complain about not feeling safe when driving alongside large trucks on streets not designed for the extra traffic, Goade said. The safety and the problem of wear on streets concerns city officials.

“A fully loaded 18-wheeler wears out the road as much as 10,000 passenger vehicles,” Goade said.

Most complaints are for trucks on Don Tyson Parkway,Chapman and 40th streets, Mayor Doug Sprouse said. Trucks should be on those streets only to make local deliveries, he said.

The parkway is used to avoid congestion and traffic signals on Robinson and Sunset avenues, Goade said. Sections of Robinson and Sunset are also U.S. 412.

David Arthur of Springdale said he understands why the parkway is preferred by east-west traffic.

“I can shave 15 to 30 minutes by using Don Tyson instead of 412,” Arthur said.

Springdale has some east to west connector streets that other Northwest Arkansas cities don’t have, said Terry Gulley, Fayetteville Transportation Services director.

“In Fayetteville, our main north-south and east-west connectors are state or federal highways,” Gulley said. “Trucks are allowed on those.”

Fayetteville officials rarely get calls about trucks off marked routes.

“We had some calls about Joyce Boulevard east of Arkansas 265,” Gulley said. “We put up signs, and it seemed to work.”

The signs work about 90 percent of the time, Gulley said. When the signs don’t work, police officers are asked to patrol the problem area more often, he said.

“The word passes around fast among professional drivers when someone gets a ticket,” Goade said.

In Bentonville, street improvements have improved access for trucks, said Mike Churchwell, transportation engineer for the city. The access was needed because of the large number of Wal-Mart warehouses in the city.

Complaints dropped off after the improvements were completed, Churchwell said.

“Every once in a while, you’ll see some truck on a residential street,” Churchwell said. “You can tell the driver’s lost by the look on his face.”

Steve Glass, the director of planning and transportation in Rogers, said the problem doesn’t occur in his city.

In Springdale, when complaints come in, the Police Department is notified, Sprouse said.

“If we are not responsive, then it will add to the problem,” Sprouse said.

Part of the enforcement problem has been making sure police officers knew what vehicles are permitted and which ones aren’t, said Capt. Ron Hritz, Springdale’s patrol division supervisor.

“We need to be able to look at a vehicle and know if it belongs there,” Hritz said. “If you are trying to look at license plates or weights printed on the cab, it’s too hard.”

The law needs to be more specific, Arthur said.

“The signs say ‘No Thru Trucks,’” Arthur said. “That could apply to pickup trucks.”

The requirement to follow routes applies to trucks over 5,000 pounds, Cate said. The definition was outdated, said Springdale Alderman Eric Ford, adding that he had a personal pickup truck that nearly weighed that much.

The new proposal is for the routes to be for any truck with more than six wheels, said Goade. Recreational vehicles, public transportation and governmental vehicles would be exceptions, Cate said.

“That would be easy for us,” Hritz said.

The proposal will go to a Springdale City Council committee meeting today. If sent on, it would be put up for a vote at Tuesday’s full council meeting.