2/28/08 - Traffic safety panel looks at Church St. truck traffic

(As published by Cortland Standard, Evan Geibel reporting)

The Cortland County Traffic Safety Board discussed the impact of truck traffic on the southernmost section of Church Street Wednesday, but decided there was little to be done unless the city of Cortland changes its ordinances.

Cortland County Legislator Kathryn Wilcox (R-5th Ward) said residents are upset with the volume of tractor-trailers on the road, which is divided into narrow driving lanes by a grassy median.

Wilcox said the trucks often drive up onto the median as they turn onto the street and sometimes become stuck behind parked cars, honking their horns until the car is moved.

The trucks are heading to Marietta Corp. on Huntington Street to deliver their product, which Deputy Police Chief Frank Catalano said is in line with the city’s ordinance.

Although the sign at the entrance to south Church Street prohibits all truck traffic outside of local deliveries, Marietta constitutes a local delivery.

Wilcox wondered if the intent of the ordinance was to prohibit 18-wheelers and allow smaller delivery trucks, but Catalano said the language is not that specific and the tractor-trailers are entitled to deliver their product.

Pendleton Street to the east and south Main Street to the west are both truck routes and feed onto Huntington Street, and are wider and more able to accommodate large truck traffic, the board agreed.

But moving the trucks off Church Street could increase the traffic passing by Randall Elementary School on Huntington Street on its way to Pendleton Street.

This topic hit close to home with me, as I live on the 8th Ward side of Church Street. I have had several conversations with my past Aldermen and Legislators, as well as the Cortland Police.

The City Police offered this to Kathie (in BLUE)

"This issue comes up all the time as a result of there being a large industry on Huntington Street. According to City Code Article XI (Truck Route System):

All trucks, tractors and tractor-trailer combinations having a combined gross weight of vehicle plus load in excess of five tons are hereby excluded from all highways within this City, except from those highways listed in Subsection A, EXCEPT this exclusion shall not be construed to prevent the delivery or pickup of merchandise or other property along any highway from which such vehicles and combinations are excluded.

Thus, vehicles are permitted to use feeder streets to conduct commerce within the city limits and the police are not authorized to prohibit this activity. This section of the City Code was Adopted August 5, 1969 and amended September 4, 1990."

This is the email I sent to Kathie Wilcox prior to the meeting:

Thanks for the follow up. We had met with Chief Nichols several years ago about truck traffic and the parking issues around the park. As far as the parking, we were told to call if there were issues as they occurred. Normal police partols around game time(s) have never happened, and oftentimes patrol cars will drive by illegally parked cars without ticketing during the season.

I certainly understand that the City Police department is busy and appreciate their efforts. I also think that we need to be proactive in taxpayer issues and that occasional "reminders" to neighbors, including local business and visitors to our parks, will show that we are a community that cares about our families and our safety. Whether this needs to be done by the police department, or through communications of elected officials including the Mayor and ourselves should be discussed at the CCTSB.

It appears that the Code related to truck traffic -as usual - does not have any enforceability the way I read it. This is what Chief Nichols had explained at our meeting without providing a hard copy of the text. Since Marietta is a "local delivery", then they can basically take any roads they want to get to the building. It doesn't matter if they are getting supplies from Texas, California, or the corner gas station, the delivery is local - to Marietta.

I have seen a decrease in the amount of truck traffic after Marietta began to utilize the Rubbermaid plant. Most of the trucks between Marietta and Rubbmaid will travel down Pendleton Street. It seems very silly to even have that section in the code as the exception nullifies the intent of reducing truck traffic on feeder streets.

I would like to read the entire section, but the Codes haven't been on line for over a year. From the City of Cortland web page http://www.cortland.org/city/fire/code.htm,

"The current on-line version of the code has been removed from the website as the Zoning chapter is not the current version. The Zoning Chapter is under further revision and will be made available when complete. For information regarding current regulations please contact the Zoning Officer or the Code Enforcement Office."

Maybe you can request a copy at the meeting, in whatever form it is in. If the updated Code hasn't been issued, maybe we can work on better wording and provide a tool for better enforcement.