Saratoga Springs residents returned to city hall Tuesday to plead with officials to address safety and environmental concerns from heavy truck traffic.
After outcry from residents who claimed they suffered from air and noise pollution, the previous city council enacted a five-ton weight limit on vehicles on Van Dam and Church streets at the end of 2023.
Weeks later, the New York State Department of Transportation called on the city to rescind the weight limit. The city removed signage, but the weight limit ordinance remained on the books.
Speaking during a public hearing Tuesday, members of the Van Dam and Church Neighborhood Association like Erin Maciel said city officials need to keep the ordinance in place and work to reroute truck traffic.
“So I ask you, do you consider routing 53-foot trucks through a small residential street, a national historic district, and a street with multiple school bus stops the appropriate place for interstate trucks? Would this meet the federal transportations mission of putting safety first and protecting all users of the road, the most vulnerable users of any roadway—people with disabilities, children trying to cross the road. Our definition of the safety cannot be that of [the] 1980s,” said Maciel.
The streets were designated as a so-called Access Highway in 1993, connecting the Adirondack Northway and State Route 29.
In a May 6th letter to the city, New York State Department of Transportation Regional Traffic Engineer Michael Fenley said the city needs a NYSDOT engineering study demonstrating a history of safety issues to change the designation of the route.
Lifelong Saratogian Liz Israel doesn’t want to wait for a tragedy.
“What we weren’t prepared for, and what no one can prepare you for is the sheer volume of heavy-duty tractor trailers that come blasting down our narrow residential road all day, every day. These trucks rattle our houses, they wake our children up at night, we can’t open our windows for fresh air. The trucks make us live with the relentless fear of what might happen if one of our pets, or god forbid, our children stepped out onto Van Dam street. A tractor trailer takes 120 feet to stop when going 30 miles an hour,” said Israel.
Nick Fazioli said lack of political will had prevented previous city councils from cutting down on truck traffic on residential streets like his.
“We’re engaging on all levels of the government to challenge the norm and DOT’s supposed domain over our city streets that we pay for. Right? Every single one of us pays for the damage, not them. Tonight, there’s an agenda item reform from the mayor’s office asking for grants for a truck study. The city is out for RFP for engineering services to help calm traffic and improve pedestrian safety on Van Dam. And then last week we saw speed indicators show up, warning motorists of their speed on Van Dam. Those are steps you guys have taken for us, and thank you very much, we’re starting to see some real momentum,” said Fazioli.
Speaking with WAMC after the hearing, city planning board member Bill McTygue says federal funding is available to help the city protect its residents through traffic and engineering studies.
“We don’t need any letters coming from DOT telling us that we can’t do this and we can’t do that. We’ve been hearing that for the last 30-40 years. We need solutions, we need help. And the time has come for this city to lay down a marker. And this neighborhood, obviously, has done that. They are the difference,” said McTygue.
Democratic Commissioner of Accounts Dillon Moran tells WAMC he's in full support of residents’ demands for an end to truck traffic.
“For me, the letter from the Department of Transportation that states because nobody responded to something when I was in high school that I, as a 50-year-old man in the position that I am in, can’t question why we couldn’t make a change under our present—circumstance today, the idea that we can’t do that is insane,” said Moran.
The city council did not vote to repeal the weight ordinance. It unanimously approved a motion to allow the city to apply for a $100,000 grant from the state to conduct a truck origin study, which would help the city better understand how to manage truck traffic.
