In his first week on the job, New Jersey Dept. of Transportation Commissioner James Fox called off a plan that he said his successor had created without enough outreach to affected communities. 

A NJ DOT announcement last week proposed to allow large trucks access to 65 miles on 12 highways in 9 counties from which the trucks had been excluded in 1999 (the overall policy covers 285 miles on state highways and 440 on county roads). The announcement infuriated mayors in central NJ.

Fox told the Star-Ledger that the easing of the ban was developed by his predecessor, James Weinstein, before he left the agency in January.The bans apply to trucks that are 102 inches wide (the largest on the roads) and are traveling between states, to reduce truck impacts on smaller highways.

The proposal was presented by DOT as a way to reduce roundabout truck routing created by gaps in the road network for big trucks. The Campaign tried to locate a DOT analysis that led to the proposal and route selection, but it is not clear that one exists.

The policy banning the biggest trucks from many segments of state and county highways in NJ is still being contested in court by the American Trucking Association.Last March, a federal judge said the rules were not obviously discriminatory, but called for a full trial and examination of detailed evidence.

Commissioner Fox withdrew the plan after hearing strong opposition from New Jersey mayors. On Thursday, the Mercer Times printed criticism of the ban from the mayors of Trenton, Hamilton and Ewing, who said lifting the ban was a mistake and that allowing trucks on smaller highways would damage the quality of life in their communities.

Fox’ move was clearly the right one. A good follow up would be extension of the ban to 96 inch-wide trucks, as some municipalities have requested.A more effective ban would also include all big trucks on New Jersey roads. The current ban only applies to trucks that are not based or do not stop in New Jersey.Other trucks can use almost any road they want.

Holt, Torricelli, Slater to Whitman: Strengthen NJ Truck Ban 
(Oct. 23, 2000)

New Jersey Supports Gov., Wants More (July 16, 1999)

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