Politics & Government
Wilmington Selectmen Support Truck Exclusion Route For North Reading
Selectmen voted 5-0 in favor of supporting the proposed truck exclusion route.
At their Sept. 23 meeting, Selectmen voted 5-0 to approve a letter for support for a proposed truck exclusion route for the town of North Reading.
North Reading Director of Public Works Richard Carnevale said the exclusion route would prevent large trucks from Chesnut Street and New Street in North Reading, and would only affect Wilmington from Salem Street to the I-93 interchange.
Carnevale said the truck exclusion would be between 8 p.m. and 7 a.m., and would divert between six and 10 trucks per day to Wilmington streets based on a traffic study completed by North Reading.
Carnevale said the truck exclusion process began for North Reading in 2010 after residents expressed concern about truck traffic and speed, with three proposed solutions: police enforcement, traffic calming and truck exclusion.
North Reading had tried the first two options, but felt neither successfully addressed the concerns over truck traffic, according to Carnevale.
"The police chief doesn't feel [police enforcement] is successfully abating the problem," Carnevale said.
Wilmington Town Manager Jeff Hull said the Wilmington Police Department and Department of Public Works had no objections to the proposed truck exclusion.
"The DPW Superintendent and Police Chief both do not believe this rerouting of traffic is going to have significant impact on the town," Hull said. "They are not opposed to the proposal."
Selectmen Chairman Michael McCoy said the town would revisit the issue if it turned out the traffic projections by North Reading were off, and more than six to 10 trucks per day were diverted to Wilmington.
Carnevale said regardless of Wilmington's decision to support the truck exclusion route, Mass Highway grants final approval of the route, and that decision remains uncertain.
You can read more about the proposed North Reading truck exclusion route here:
Truck Exclusion Eyed for Parts of North Reading
Raised Crosswalks May Deter Truck Exclusion in North Reading
Truck Exclusion Back on the Table for Chestnut Street in North Reading
Truck Exclusion Reconsidered in North Reading
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