Residents along Van Dam Street who say their lives have been plagued by loud, polluting trucks spoke out at Tuesday’s meeting.
Van Dam is a tree-lined thoroughfare that tractor trailers have been using for years to travel between the Adirondack Northway to New York State Route 29.
Susan Stranburg lives on the corner of Trestle Lane and Van Dam and has two young daughters who have to cross the busy street to get on the bus.
She was one of many homeowners and parents who pleaded with city councilors to restrict trucks driving on Van Dam to five tons, a move they hope will reduce heavy traffic.
“For me, as a parent, and having young children it’s terrifying. The other portion of it that you’ve heard already is at night they’re flying. And my ear hurts right now, it hurts constantly. I cannot live in this house. I love it, I love Saratoga, I’ve been here for 24 years,” said Stranburg.
Brad Godette and his 7-year-old David also shared their shared concerns over the safety of the children who live on the now truck-filled road.
“Young David is one of 8 the children that has a bus stop on Van Dam, we live on Lawrence Street, so it’s another one of the intersections where a lot of young families live,” said Brad Gadette.
“And we have to go a little close up. And what if someone accidentally, like, got startled and got in the road and got ran over and died? Say that happened, that would just—that’s just bad, and I hate the trucks,” said David.
Van Dam was designated a de-facto truck route in 2014 without public or city council input.
Both Mayor Ron Kim and several residents blame then-Public Safety Commissioner Chris Matheisen, who they claim sent a letter to the New York Department of Transportation approving the redirection of traffic to the historically protected street.
Matheisen says the mayor’s claims that he acted in an illegal way are false as the truck routes regarding Van Dam were approved in 1989, while Mathiesen served from 2012-2017.
“The contention that I did something during my administration to increase truck traffic on Van Dam Street is absolutely not true. The truck routes in Saratoga Springs did not change from the time I became commissioner to the time I left. So, his attacks on me having—that I supposedly did something illegal and I did something to cause the problem on Van Dam Street to worsen is absolutely false, we did nothing of that sort,” said Matheisen.
Kim contends that Matheisen, a former Democratic Party ally who ran against him in this year’s mayoral contest, played a key role in sending trucks through Van Dam in addition to the city’s traditional truck routes.
“What we discovered through Carrie Woerner’s office is that the letter that was sent was never approved by the city council, was sent on no authority of the Commissioner of Public Safety Chris Matheisen. That is outrageous, and besides the fact that it is illegal,” said Kim.
A Saratoga Springs Police Department traffic enforcement division, which had been bringing in nearly $30,000 to the city in fines a year, was disbanded in 2014.
Jennie Clifton, a member of the Van Dam and Church neighborhood association, told WAMC she was grateful the ordinance passed by a 5-0 margin.
“We don’t have the solution, and that’s not technically our job, I’m not a traffic engineer. But we want to be a part of the conversation and push the city council and the DOT to make a solution to a problem that is huge in our city,” said Clifton.
Outside of city hall, several members of the neighborhood association reflected on the evening.
Tiffany Britt described the truck route along Van Dam as a “freeway” in front of her house.
“We’re like 10 feet away. And the tractor trailers, you have to see it to believe it. It’s pretty remarkable; the sounds they make, our houses shake, it’s—you look one way, there’s one coming this way another from the other way, it’s just, it creates a lot of noise pollution, pollution,” explained Brit
Dennis Gosier said that while he’s happy with the ordinance, it’s only a first step.
“We understand this is the first step in a long process but we needed to get this ordinance passed to ban the trucks. And now its passed and we’re gonna work on enforcement and keep attending meetings,” said Gosier.
