Upper Nazareth, East Allen Township officials look to ban trucks on Township Line Road

FROM THE EXPRESS TIMES

Supervisors from East Allen and Upper Nazareth townships hope to ban truck traffic on a shared road where they say tractor trailers are wreaking havoc on private properties.

East Allen Township Manager Debbie Seiple said large trucks are being guided by GPS units to leave Route 512 and head down Township Line Road, where they wind up lost in residential neighborhoods and don’t have room to turn around.

Trucks executing K-turns have knocked down mailboxes, struck utility poles, torn up lawns and destroyed landscaping, Seiple said.

"It’s like taking a Cadillac and trying to turn around in a driveway fit for a Volkswagon," she said.

Recently, a commercial truck destroyed a fire hydrant on the East Allen Township side of Township Line Road, twisting and cracking it into the ground, she said. The hydrant costs between $4,000 and $6,000 to replace, Seiple said.

Seiple said East Allen Township Supervisors want to form an inter-municipal agreement with Upper Nazareth to ban commercial trucks form Township Line Road.

After tonight’s meeting, Upper Nazareth Township supervisors Chairman Michael Rinker and Vice Chairman Scott Sylvainus agreed a ban is worth pursuing, but they want to wait for a traffic study presentation at their next meeting from Upper Nazareth Township engineer Al Kortze.

Kortze said the study calls for signs in East Allen Township to direct truckers away from Township Lie Road. He believes some of the trucks come from a nearby depot on Chrisphalt Drive, owned by Crown Enterprises, an affiliate of Central Transport. Crown Enterprises could not be reached for comment today.

Kortze said the trucks heading east from the facility don’t know they can’t continue east once they get to Township Line Road. The traffic then heads south toward Silver Crest Road, he said.

Kortze recommends posting signs at all the driveways on Chrisphalt Drive warning truckers not to head east. The exception would be Berger Sanitation, which makes local deliveries for its business on Township Line Road, he said.

"The bottom line is we can restrict the truck traffic out there," Kortze said. "Turns at Newburg and Silver Crest are just impossible for a truck to make."

During tonight’s meeting, Sylvainus suggested working with GPS manufacturers to change mapping routes.

Seiple said signs have been placed in East Allen alerting truckers of a specific weight not to use the road. She said both municipalities in 2005 passed ordinances that addressed a specific weight limit for the trucks, but not a complete ban.

She said East Allen uses state police services and wants Upper Nazareth Township, which has its own police department, to help monitor trucks driving on the road. Some truckers already have been cited by state police, she said.

http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/nazareth/index.ssf/2011/08/upper_nazareth_officials_on_bo.html