SKANEATELES, N.Y. (AP) - Trash trucks will no longer be allowed
to take short cuts across upstate New York's scenic country
highways and will be required to stay on the state's major
interstates as they transport waste to upstate landfills, New York
Gov. David Paterson said Monday.
Paterson directed the state Department of Transportation to
immediately begin developing regulations for large truck routes and
gave the agency until June 1 to finish and present its plan for
public comment.
"These trucks have created a problem that desperately needs a
solution," said Paterson, who was joined by U.S. Sen. Charles
Schumer.
The new regulations will keep all large trucks on the national
interstate network for as much of a trip as possible. They will not
affect local pickup and delivery trucks, the governor said.
The change "will balance the need for large trucks to serve the
state's economy with the need to promote sustainable economic
development, tourism and improved quality of life for local
residents," Paterson said.
He said he expected to have the regulations in place before the
end of the summer, taking effect initially in the Finger Lakes
region but eventually expanded statewide.
Violations will carry substantial fines and the new rules will
be enforced by local and state police, Paterson said.
"The devil is in the details," said Michael Chellis, chairman
of the safety council for the New York State Motor Truck
Association, a trade group with over 800 member trucking firms.
"We don't mind reasonable regulation - we're already quite
regulated. But for most truckers, it's a matter of economics. It
would be more helpful if instead of increasing tolls, they would
reduce them and also help bring down the cost of diesel," Chellis
said.
Each day, a growing number of trucks leave the interstates and
cut through small towns across the Finger Lakes to save money on
gas and avoid tolls and weigh stations.
Most of the outcry has been over the garbage trucks hauling
solid waste from New York City, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. For
most, their destination is the Seneca Meadows landfill in Seneca
County.
Critics say there's been a growing number of accidents in recent
years with spills of fuel, garbage and chemicals, all posing
threats to the watershed and surrounding neighborhoods.
The trucks also disrupt communities at all hours of the day and
night, often leaving behind noxious odors, critics charge.
Skaneateles Mayor Robert Green said as many as 200 garbage
trucks rumble daily through his village, a gentrified community
with lakeside estates that has been a summertime vacation spot for
former President Bill Clinton and his family.
"It has really become a quality of life issue. They stink.
They're loud. They're tearing up our roads," Green said.
Another shortcut takes the trucks through Aurora, a historic
village overlooking Cayuga Lake in the heart of upstate wine
country.
Last year, a trash truck cutting through Aurora overturned,
shutting down the village's main road for eight hours, said George
Farenthold, a village trustee. Another tipped over this past
weekend, he said. Meanwhile, over the past two years, the village
has had to fix four breaks in the water line where it runs next to
the state highway, he said.
"I used to wake up to the sound of geese. Now it's 18-wheelers
at 4:30 in the morning," Farenthold said.
Schumer noted that the national interstate highway system was
designed for transporting freight and is much better suited to
handle the size and weight of today's big rigs than are local
roads.
Recently, New Jersey developed truck routing regulations
requiring large trucks to utilize the national network, Schumer
said.