The Van Dam and Church neighborhood association successfully pleaded with the Saratoga Springs city council last year to pass a 5-ton weight ordinance.
The previous all-Democrat council unanimously passed the ordinance, but not without some trepidation about whether the move bypassed proper channels.
Dennis Gosier is a member of the coalition of parents and homeowners who have grown desperate to see lasting change.
“Because we believe it’s a, you know, historical city street, it’s a beautiful street and we would love to get the trucks off of Van Dam Street and find a comprehensive solution for the entire city of Saratoga Springs,” he said.
Gosier says the neighborhood association is disheartened by the DOT’s directive, saying he’s determined to find a permanent solution.
“This has been a problem for the past 30 years in the city of Saratoga Springs. I’m a high school graduate of Saratoga, and I remember being a freshman in high school and this was a, you know, hot button issue for the city council,” he said. “And no one has solved it yet, and our association wants to step up to the plate and take a look at this and help the city, the state, and the department of transportation solve this problem because not only is traffic getting worse in Saratoga Springs, there’s also more construction now more than ever, too. So it’s going to continue to get worse in the future. And we can’t just kick the can down the road on this topic, it needs to be solved and it needs to be solved now.”
In a statement to WAMC, the DOT says the city does not have the authority to impose local ordinances like weight limits, but adds it’s continuing to engage with city officials to address concerns about truck traffic.
Public Safety Commissioner Tim Coll tells WAMC that the city removed the new signage January 9th after being contacted by the DOT.
Katherine Hems, President of the Trucking Association of New York, explained why her organization brought its complaint about the ordinance to the DOT.
“We understand. There’s always a challenge when you have a community and there’s truck traffic that goes through that community. So we certainly understand the concerns that the community has raised and their frustrations. But, at the end of the day there is a process. And particularly for the trucking industry, when it’s a designated route that the industry has been using for many, many years, and then they suddenly see these signs saying ‘oh, no trucks,’ that creates a lot of angst, obviously within the industry itself,” said Hems.
According to a letter the DOT sent to Mayor John Safford, Van Dam Street has been listed as an access highway within the Spa City since 1993.
The Republican says the city council will continue to work to ensure residents are heard.
“Yeah, we definitely need a balancing act between the citizen’s concerns, and the State transportation people, and the right to the trucks. But, we definitely are listening and doing everything that we can to try and meet our citizens' needs,” said Safford.
At the end-of-year meeting where the previous city council passed the now-repealed ordinance, then-Mayor Ron Kim blamed Chris Matheisen, a former Democratic Party ally who ran against him in November, for the increased truck traffic.
Matheisen rejected Kim’s claims, and said that trucking routes involving Van Dam Street were approved in 1989, while he only served as Public Safety Commissioner from 2012-2017.
Gosier says he and other members of the neighborhood association look forward to working with the new city council.
“We did run into some partisan politics trying to get the ordinance passed. But our association is non-partisan, we’re trying to get, you know like I said, the trucks banned on Van Dam Street and we’re not looking to play politics with this, but we’re excited for the new administration, they seem eager to work with us,” said Gosier.
