NYCDOT representatives emphasized that community participation was "integral" to the success of its new Truck Route Management study at the project’s community kick off meeting last week.

This is welcome news to transportation and environmental advocates, community groups, and elected officials who, in 1999, fought against the design of city’s truck route study, which focused more on moving trucks more quickly through the city than mitigating trucks impacts in local neighborhoods. The goal of the new study is to "establish a set of recommendations to assist the department in mitigating negative impacts of truck traffic."

About 50 people attended the meeting, though some said the location (Manhattan’s City College) discouraged more from attending. Most participants were from community boards or civic groups in Brooklyn and the Bronx.

Many groups said they needed a solution before the 12-month study is completed, since trucks were destroying the foundations on their homes, setting off car alarms, generating night-time noise pollution and knocking over parking meters. Advocates said DOT should implement traffic calming measures to stop trucks from turning onto or traveling on local streets. They said the effort would be "doomed" if police enforcement did not increase, and suggested the Department look into developing rational pricing policies for trucks at bridges and tunnels

The study seems mainly focused more on truck route enforcement and mitigating neighborhoods impacts, rather than on a hard look at existing routes and whether they should be changed. However, DOT officials said they were considering easing truck restrictions on some parkways that are currently closed to truck traffic. Opening these highways to trucks could surely help mitigate some local truck impacts, but should be accompanied by the repeal of truck routes on parallel local streets. The city should also consider banning tractor trailers from some neighborhoods and street classifications.

The results of a recent internet survey of truck problems in the city were presented at the meeting. The 619 responses expressed general frustration that trucks do not stay on appropriate routes, and have terrible effects on community traffic, pedestrian safety, air, and noise conditions. Most responses were at the block level, which raises the question of how DOT is going to juggle many local problems in its final recommendations. The effort will have to be revisited once again if its main recommendations focus on better truck route signs.

The next step for the study is a round of borough meetings (see calendar). For more on the truck route study, visit www.nyc.gov/html/dot/. 

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