In an effort to halt street and sign damage, a “no thru truck” ordinance proposal was adopted by the Board of Aldermen at its Nov. 2 meeting.
The ordinance, still pending final approval, will impose a $1,000 fine on truckloads exceeding 26,001 pounds navigating any city street — excluding Highways 12 and 35. Trucks also may not exceed three axles. Exceptions will be made for local deliveries, emergencies, school buses, municipal services, and contractors working in the city.
Mayor Tim Kyle said most of the damage has come from out-of-town truck drivers passing through downtown Kosciusko rather than using state highways 12 and 35.
“I’ve been in the transportation business for most of my life. I’ve been all over the United States with different businesses I’ve had, and even working for Dickerson transportation,” said Kyle. “It makes no sense to me that a guy traveling through Kosciusko, just going north somewhere, gets off a major state highway and comes up Huntington Street through all these residential areas to get right back onto 12 and 35.”
He said drivers do this often, but there has not been a fine in place for offenders. Currently, “no trucks” signs are posted near entrances to Natchez and Huntington streets, but the new ordinance will cover all city streets and additional signs will be posted near all entrances to the city limits.
Kyle said drivers routinely leave the steel mill and make sharp turns through downtown rather than taking a state highway, which has caused damage to roads, wayfaring signage and curbs.
“This new ordinance will basically cover all the main entrances into town. We will post signs at all of those major entrances like Jefferson on both ends, Natchez on both ends, Jackson Street, and Wells Street,” said Kyle. “Another one we’re having a problem with is over there by Jordan Funeral Home on Woodland. We have trucks cut through there going to the steel mill, and there are signs over there and have been.”
He added that most drivers may simply be following their GPS, but many of them should be using a trucker GPS rather than a passenger vehicle GPS.
“I guess I’m still old school, but if I’m going from here to Minnesota or somewhere, I’ll still get out a map and say, ‘OK, that’s the way I’m planning on going,’ and I’ll still set my GPS,” said Kyle. “The GPS may be telling me to go somewhere, but I’ll know the best route to go. These guys coming through here makes absolutely no sense.”
With the city borrowing $3.5 million for street paving and repairs, it plans to replace damaged infrastructure while also seeking to prevent any future deterioration.
“It has not been many years since Huntington Street was paved. On South Huntington coming back into town, if you’ll notice along the shoulders of the road, a lot of that has already broken down. We’re getting some potholes there on a fairly new road,” said Kyle. “A lot of our other infrastructure is deteriorating and getting in bad shape, and we’re hoping to replace the worst of that with this new paving bond. Even with those we don’t get paved, we still don’t want any more deterioration on them from trucks being overweight.”
In other municipalities throughout the state, “no thru truck” ordinances set weight limits as low as 10,000 pounds. Kyle said the city does not want to punish local truck drivers making their daily routes to and from work, so the ordinance’s weight limit will be set at 26,001 pounds — giving local couriers the ability to “bobtail” home in their truck without an attached trailer.
“I don’t want to make a hindrance for those people working and trying to provide for their families,” he said. “Any truck and trailer combination would weigh over that anyway, but the ordinance is going to say nothing over three axles. So, trucks with trailers are not going to be allowed on city streets.”
Local drivers will be able to drive home without their trailers, but trucks are still not permitted to be parked along city streets.
