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Atglen: Council considers ban on trucks

A Citizens Task Force has completed its report on banning Through-Trucks on area roads, such as routes 41 and 10, and are now seeking support for such a ban from municipalities that border the affected roadways, Atglen Borough being first on the list.

"A lot of this is an emotional kind of thing," said Councilor Dirk Hagen.

At the council's meeting Monday night, resident Mona Schutsky and two officials from London Grove Township presented the plan to ban Through-Trucks on area roadways and are seeking support from the council in the form of a resolution.

When they have the support from the municipalities bordering the affected roadways, they can present the ban proposal to Governor Ed Rendell, who would then sign it into law. The ban would follow a similar ban already in effect in New Jersey, and would include routes 41, 841, 896, 796, 82, 842, 10, 926, 52 and Strasburg Road. The municipalities that border the roadways include, among others, Atglen, East Fallowfield Township, Highland Township, Londonderry Township, Parkesburg Borough, Sadsbury Township, and West Fallowfield and West Sadsbury townships. There are 27 municipalities in all.

"These long-haul trucks were not made for our rural roadways," Schutsky said.

In response to Hagen's comments, Schutsky asked, "Is there anyone here who hasn't had something happen to them involving a truck?"

However, Hagen felt the figures provided in the report were disproportionate: 30% of trucks make up the traffic on the roadways, but only account for 6% of the accidents. Hagen also wanted to know how many trucks in that 30% were considered "through trucks" and not local trucks.

Schutsky said trucks making local deliveries would not be included in the ban; she also said, along with Tom Houghton of London Grove Township, that the ban of through trucks needed to be a regional one.

Schutsky also said supporting the ban of through trucks on area roadways was a separate issue from the road improvements that are in the planning stages for Route 41. Those plans include possibly a bypass around Chatham and Avondale Borough or, as being promoted by the environmental group S.A.V.E., a two-laned highway with traffic calming features.

London Grove Township supports the two-laned proposal being promoted by S.A.V.E., but Schutsky stressed that issue was a separate one. "We're not asking whether you support a bypass," said Schutsky, adding, "While everything else is being worked out, this can be done quickly and with little expense."

When a resident in attendance asked the council if there was a good reason not to support the truck ban, Council President Rick Wood said that was a good question for council members to think about and consider for the next meeting. He suggested, and the council agreed, they would take the report home, study it, and discuss it further at their next meeting.

Schutsky said the plan was to visit all the municipalities that border the affected roadways this month, asking those municipalities to support the truck ban. Highland Township passed a resolution banning through trucks last June, however the report if the ad-hoc Citizens Task Force was only completed in December. Three other municipalities has also passed resolutions of supporting the ban of through trucks - London Grove, West Marlborough Township and Penn Township.

© ParkesBurg Post Ledger 2004