Haskel Burns

American Staff Writer

During a recent Hattiesburg City Council meeting, Ward 4 Councilwoman Mary Dryden raised concerns about traffic in and around downtown, particularly regarding 18-wheelers and other big trucks taking unauthorized routes through the area.

"I had gotten several calls in the two weeks before I put (the issue) on the work session," she said. "I've had people mention it sporadically, and I've taken pictures of trucks that are hauling in downtown, and I just knew that wasn't the way it was supposed to work."

So far, the problem seems to have abated after work by Hattiesburg Public Works Director Larry Barnes and other city officials, who have placed signs throughout the area to inform truckers of the proper routes to take.

"I haven't been getting any more calls about the traffic," Barnes said. "What we did was put up 'No Truck' signs throughout East Hardy, and we also put some up on the James Street side, over there next to Bay Street. Those were the concerns the citizens had, and so that's what we addressed."

Those signs reinforce a Hattiesburg ordinance that states, "It is unlawful for any person, firm, or corporation to operate or cause to be operated a commercial truck, as hereinafter defined, on any street, road, public right-of-way, or highway unless that route has been designated by this Chapter as one on which commercial truck traffic is permitted. ... It shall be unlawful to operate a commercial vehicle 10,000 pounds or larger on other than designated truck routes, except when making a delivery or pickup."

Vehicles that are not classified as commercial vehicles include all emergency vehicles, farm tractors and equipment, utility service vehicles, city vehicles and road construction equipment.

"We pretty much saw those big trucks going through downtown every day, until we got those signs in place," Barnes said. "Certainly, they're (now) checking the truck routes that are in place, not going down through town.

"We still want to be mindful that we are business-friendly, and that we want the trucks that need to make deliveries to be able to do that. But we want to make sure that we use as small of trucks that we possibly can."

Officials from Hattiesburg Police Department also have remained vigilant in enforcing the code.

"We've always done that," HPD spokesman Lt. Jon Traxler said. "I know the city has put in flashing lights here in front of the police station about the 'No Truck' routes. They're solar powered, and so they run all the time ... and anybody coming off of James Street, Edwards Street, they're going to see it. So that's something we've always done — we do that all the time."

Officials from Petal also have worked with Hattiesburg representatives on the issue. Recently, representatives from Petal Police Department, HPD and the Mississippi Department of Transportation staged a joint operation to set up checkpoints on each side of the bridge connecting Hattiesburg's East Hardy Street with Petal's Main Street.

"I do know that they wrote numerous citations for assorted violations," Petal Mayor Hal Marx said. "I think the majority of the citations for violating truck routes was written from the Hattiesburg side coming over to Petal. I think we wrote seven — I'm not sure how many Hattiesburg wrote, but I think they wrote more than we did."

Petal also has worked with MDOT to help weigh trucks to ensure the vehicles are adhering to highway specifications.

"Not only are the truck route violations an issue, but there's a weight limit on that bridge," Marx said. "I do believe that (MDOT) found that a few of the vehicles were over that weight limit, so we plan to do that sort of thing again in the future, possibly in the next month or so.

"We just want the companies that send the trucks through to understand that this might be a periodic thing that we do, unannounced, so that they will better adhere to our truck routes. It is a problem when they come through and tear up your roads and go over bridges that they're not supposed to be traveling over. So we're happy to work with Hattiesburg to both sort of cooperate together and address that problem."

Dryden said the combined efforts of everyone working to combat the problem has been a success, and she was overwhelmed by the positive feedback she received after putting the item on council's work session.

"So many people who live in and use our downtown have expressed so much appreciation that we addressed that issue," she said. "The residents who have seen signs, particularly on Bay Street, were very grateful. So I appreciate what (everybody) working together is doing to help us address that.

"It's not a matter of ticketing people to get money from them. But the truck drivers are on a tight schedule, and I feel like once we stop a few going through downtown mistakenly, and they realize that's not the way to go, they're going to be much more careful. I hope it'll stick — it takes everybody working together to make good things happen."