Monroe Balks at Big Trucks on City Streets

By Mike Torralba, The Charlotte Observer, N.C.

Jan. 14–City officials are opposing a trucking company’s request to run longer tractor trailers through downtown Monroe and out two-lane N.C. 75 to Mineral Springs.

The company, Trailer Bridge, has asked the N.C. Department of Transportation’s permission to haul twin trailers up to 28 feet each and 48-to-53-foot single trailers to a textile plant in Mineral Springs. In general, most trailers cannot exceed 48 feet.

The public can write the N.C. DOT with comments until Feb. 1.

The city transportation committee Monday passed a resolution opposing the Jacksonville, Fla.-based company’s request. The request, submitted in December, applies only to Trailer Bridge.

The committee’s chairman, council member Bob Smith, said the DOT should not give the company permission until Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard is extended from Goldmine Road to Lancaster Avenue. That’s not expected to finish until 2010, according to the DOT.

Trailer Bridge wants trucks to take U.S. 74 to N.C. 200, or Skyway Drive, south to downtown Monroe. There, N.C. 200 zigzags around downtown Monroe, crossing Church Street and bearing south again at Charlotte Avenue. From there, trucks would turn on N.C. 75 and head west toward the Parkdale Mills textile plant. Most trucks aren’t allowed to stray from this route.

Smith said the committee was concerned that trucks making wide turns might endanger pedestrians and other motorists.

“A lot of those roads in downtown Monroe weren’t built for big trucks to make turns,” he said.

Single trailers of the length described in Trailer Bridge’s request tend to have a higher turning radius than twin trailers, said Kevin Lacy, a state traffic engineer with the DOT. Twins turn better than singles but sway more, Lacy said.

Trailer Bridge executives did not return phone messages. Parkdale Mills executives declined to comment.

Mineral Springs Mayor Rick Becker said the request wouldn’t have much effect on his town, because the Parkdale Mills plant lies at the town limits.

He said the Town Council probably would ask the DOT to extend the public comment deadline beyond Feb. 1.

Lacy said he expects DOT staff to make recommendations in early February. He expects to make a decision by late February.

Under state regulations, Lacy isn’t required to weigh public comments in this issue.

But “by practice, we take (them) into consideration 100 percent,” he said, particularly if the request is complex.

Want to weigh in?

Mail your comments on the Trailer Bridge request here:

J. Kevin Lacy, P.E.

State Traffic Engineer

N.C. Department of Transportation

Traffic Engineering Branch

1561 Mail Service Center

Raleigh, NC 27699-1561

Editor’s note: A version of this story appeared previously in the Observer’s Union section.

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