Printable VersionIf the City Council and staff can figure out a few complications, large trucks on the uptown section of McCulloch Boulevard may be a thing of the past.
New restrictions should only apply to semi trucks, not pickup trucks, Vice Mayor Don Callahan said.
“What I’m hoping we can accomplish is get the big truck traffic eliminated … between say 7 a.m. and midnight,” Callahan said. “The goal of this is to make the street much safer. I’ve seen more than one come to a screeching halt (at a few intersections). The effort here is to make it more pedestrian friendly and I think this is a good step.”
Interim City Manager Charlie Cassens said council will need to consider a few things before making the decision.
“I believe the original request (from council) was to find out if the city could limit truck traffic on McCulloch. The answer is yes, we can,” he said. “But this will launch the discussion into whether that’s a good idea.”
Interim Public Works Director Mark Clark said staff had a few concerns about the application of the suggestion.
“The only concern staff has is any type of restriction will require enforcement or signage to be posted,” Clark said. “That definitely requires determination of enforcement and the issue will be how reasonable any of the restrictions are to business.”
Main Street Association President Jeannie Nelson said she doesn’t see enforcement as a problem.
“I have found that there is such a spirit of cooperation on Main Street,” she said. “We are good at policing ourselves and I think we could handle it with simple understanding. Everybody sort of shares the same vision on Main Street and we’re all working toward one goal.”
Councilman Dave McAtlin agreed that enforcement might not be necessary.
“I want to wait to hear the discussion there, but I am in favor of reducing the traffic. We need to try to get some of the congestion off of McCulloch,” McAtlin said. “I would rather do something that’s more of an educational route and try to do it with signage without enforcement. I wouldn’t want to put something in place where people are getting tickets for something like this.”
You can contact the reporter at nbruttell@havasunews.com
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