CUMBERLAND – The Town Council has passed an ordinance prohibiting drivers of trucks weighing more than 10,000 pounds from traveling on North Attleboro Road.
The change comes as a relief to residents of the area, who say that the increased truck traffic here has caused a dangerous situation for drivers and pedestrians.
The Local Insider previously reported on the planned change to add the roadway connecting Cumberland and Massachusetts towns.
Councilor Jodi Harrington-Sweet, who proposed the change, said residents have seen a large increase in vehicles weighing up to 80,000 pounds using a roadway never designed for such trucks. They’re coming to and from an increasing number of industrial developments, she said, and using a winding series of roads that goes up to Plainville, where more warehouse space is planned to come online in the near future, she said.
Sweet said there has been a substantial jump in truck traffic using this as a cut-thru, even though the road in some places is as narrow as 18 feet, with tall chainlink fences on one side and boulders and trees on the other.
There is barely enough room for two cars to pass each other, she stated, and that’s not a good situation for an area with a lot of bicycle and foot traffic and no sidewalks. This effort is meant to reduce truck traffic and increase safety, said Harrington-Sweet, who said she met with the town engineer and DPW director and they confirmed that the road is too narrow and not safe.
Mike Baer, of Arnold Drive, said he’s been here since 1999 and has seen a dramatic increase in truck traffic over the last two years, starting as early as 6 a.m. and running throughout the day. He said it makes no sense to keep allowing this situation when there are other options.
North Attleboro Road resident Brian Rylander said the ordinance change is important to residents to improve safety and avoid future serious crashes by proactively removing heavier traffic. He said this will also avoid having the road become a shipping route. Harrington-Sweet, he says, was amazing to work with on this issue.
Rylander described capturing videos of some 50 trucks per day on camera, most in the 20 or 30-ton range. He said there’s just not enough room for these trucks to effectively use this route to and from Plainville and Wrentham.
Matthew Corriveau, who lives at the corner of Larchwood Drive and North Attleboro Road, said he moved here three years ago knowing that the road was somewhat busy but not expecting this level of truck traffic. The fact that it’s growing worse is concerning, he said, describing how his recycling bin was already hit and destroyed by a truck driver and he can only imagine if that was a child who was hit instead. It’s barely wide enough for two cars, he said, never mind speeding trucks.
Public Works Director Romeo Mendes said the intersection of North Attleboro Road where it meets Nate Whipple Highway is barely 22 feet wide, and a left turn there onto Nate Whipple is very difficult, especially for a truck driver.
Councilor Bob Shaw thanked residents for bringing this issue to the town’s attention, saying councilors often don’t fully understand the evolution of neighborhoods and how things have changed unless residents speak up. For safety and to protect local infrastructure, he’s in favor of the change, he said.
This road was never designed to hold this amount of truck traffic, added Shaw, and there’s no way any entity in another state is going to help pay for the infrastructure repairs if damage continues to be done, but that bill will be footed by local taxpayers. He also mentioned that there are alternative routes for truck traffic, and that this isn’t their only option.
Councilor Peter Bradley emphasized that some of the major warehousing facilities being discussed are not actually active yet. Harrington-Sweet acknowledged that, but said a lot of traffic is still coming through and it will get worse.
Bradley then said that a 10,000-pound limit will make it illegal to drive a pickup truck down the road. Harrington-Sweet responded that it’s in line with other town ordinances, but if they have to tweak some things to “meet modern standards” at some point, they can do that. This is specifically about commercial trucking, she said, and there are similar or more stringent weight limits on many other roads. Solicitor Kelley Morris Salvatore was satisfied with the language, she said.
Harrington-Sweet said they can’t contact mapping companies to have them add that the road is closed to trucks until the ordinance is in effect. Shaw asked about the small section of the road in neighboring Massachusetts and what might happen to drivers who start down it and then can’t turn around, and Morris Salvatore responded that Mendes will work with the nearby communities to make sure they’re aware of the prohibition. Police will also be practical and issue warnings for a while for those who don’t know about the restriction, she said.
The council voted 6-1 in favor of the new ordinance, with Bradley opposed.
