A limit on truck weights on residential streets in Saratoga Springs was discussed Tuesday, after being found to be out of city's purview.
During its final 2023 meeting, the previous all-Democrat city council unanimously passed an ordinance limiting the weight of tractor-trailers on Church and Van Dam streets to 5-tons.
Speaking after a public comment period during Tuesday’s city council meeting, Van Dam and Church Neighborhood Association representative Denis Gosier said the group is prepared for an imminent repeal.
“Because we can fix the problem on Van Dam Street, we can fix it for Washington, we can fix it for Church Street, we can fix it for Broadway. But, unfortunately, it looks like this is going to get rescinded tonight. So, we’re going to take one step back and hopefully two steps forward,” said Gosier.
The ordinance came after years of increasing commercial traffic on the residential, historically protected roads, which have become a truck route connecting the Adirondack Northway and State Route 29.
The streets received special signage late last year.
Trucking Association of New York President Katherine Hems brought a complaint from her organization to the State Department of Transportation.
“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.
Within weeks, the DOT informed Saratoga Springs officials that the city does not have the authority to impose such limits, and by January 9th the signs had come down.
The weight limit, however, remained on city books.
After the city council meeting, Democratic Commissioner of Public Safety Tim Coll said he will continue to look for solutions.
“What we’re trying to for immediate relief for the folks over there is, we’re putting up a beacon on the crosswalk at Van Dam and Woodlawn, and that will obviously keep the crosswalk safer but it will also had the derivative effect of slowing down vehicles which will be helpful there. Longer term, at the end of the year, as I mentioned, we have 10 police officers in the academy. Once they’re fully-operational, trained, you know, we hope to reinstate a traffic unit. I don’t want to call it any more than that, it’ll be a smaller footprint. But we can certainly try to increase enforcement in that area,” said Coll.
An SSPD traffic enforcement division, which had been bringing in nearly $30,000 to the city in fines a year, was disbanded in 2014.
Gosier said his organization has met with Congressman Paul Tonko’s and State Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner’s offices. He says a solution might require working with nearby localities such as Malta and Amsterdam to redirect traffic.
