POTTSVILLE, Pa. — The increase of tractor-trailers using roads throughout Schuylkill County is bringing road safety concerns to city officials.
Now, council members of Pottsville are banning trucks weighing more than 10 tons from traveling on Cressona Road, Hillside Road, and Calvary Street.
"Since we got a bunch of distribution centers north of us on (Interstate) 81, the truck traffic has increased in the Pottsville area. Whether it's on (Route) 61 or on Gordon Nagle Trail, and sometimes drivers because of their GPS system they're using, they can get off on roads that trucks of their size weren't made for," said Pottsville Mayor Dave Clews.
Truck drivers are being directed to small side streets throughout Pottsville, causing their vehicles to become stuck while encountering these roads in the mountain.
"There's consumer navigation and trucker navigation. It's about twice as expensive for the trucker version than the consumer. But it points out narrow roads, overheads, weight limits, where the consumer version doesn't," said Mayor Clews.
Because these roads aren't wide enough to support tractor-trailers, truck drivers have been damaging personal and city property while delaying on-coming traffic.
"The problem is size; these roads were built for consumer products. If you even have a wider-body car, going down Hillside Road where there's opposing traffic can be frightening," added Mayor Clews.
Accommodating larger vehicles on these roads has become a growing problem in Pottsville. In a recent report from Pottsville Police Capt. John Morrow, 13 incidents involving tractor-trailers have already occurred in this area throughout 2022.
"When these accidents occur, there's a 3-to 4-hour delay while trying to clear three streets. It's definitely better for our local consumer drivers, our residential drivers. They'll have more space if we keep them off," Mayor Clews said.
With the new ordinance being adopted, the city of Pottsville plans to install appropriate road signage for alternative truck routes to keep residential drivers safe.
Check out WNEP’s YouTube channel.