Town officials have put the brakes on a truck problem plaguing a local thoroughfare.
The Town of Oyster Bay voted Nov. 10 to restore truck limits on a four-mile stretch of South Oyster Bay Road—effectively turning back the clock to Dec. 2014, before the roadway was made an “access highway” by the New York State Department of Transportation (DOT).
“The town has the power to reinstate the truck restrictions that were in place in Dec. 2014,” said Venditto. “Those regulations worked well.”
The vote means that only trucks 48 feet in length, 10,000 pounds in weight and 13 feet in height can use South Oyster Bay Road to access a business park in Bethpage. However, officials from the DOT and the Federal Highway Administration have said that only the state can rescind the access highway designation based on a proven history of truck-related accidents and safety concerns validated by hard data.
A spokesperson for the state DOT said that “Once DOT has more specifics of the town’s resolution, we will share it with the Federal Highway Administration,” adding that enforcement of the new law would be up to the local police department.
Last December, the DOT designated South Oyster Bay Road as an access highway for tractor trailers ranging from 53 to 75 feet in length. FedEx submitted an application to the DOT to request this designation to accommodate truck-based transport of freight from the Long Island Expressway to its facility near Grumman in Bethpage. According to the DOT, town and Nassau County officials both received the request, but neither objected or requested a legal public hearing.
Matt Rozea, an assistant town attorney, said the town’s vote does not ban trucks from local streets to make deliveries to businesses and residents; it merely returns the restrictions that were previously in place. But attorney Jeff Forchelli, who represents Bethpage Business Park, said the limitations will hurt the business community’s ability to deliver and receive goods and services.
“You created an economic engine in Bethpage, you cannot turn around and take it away,” said Forchelli.
Venditto agreed that the economic engine is obviously critical, but not at the expense of the community’s safety.
“When it comes into conflict with public health and the safety and well being of the community, that is when we have a problem with it. And that is what we are concerned about,” said Venditto, adding that trucks will not be banned completely. “We merely want to go back to the laws that were in place prior to December [2014].”
Several residents from Plainview, Hicksville, Syosset and beyond spoke at the meeting. The residents relayed to the town board their concerns about traffic safety, noise levels and environmental and health matters.
Charles Hoffman, whose home in Hicksville abuts South Oyster Bay Road, invited the board members to his home to experience the loud rattling of these tractor trailers.
“The noise is all hours of the day and night,” he said. “They are dangerous and disruptive to our way of life. Not to mention the diesel fumes and soot that we are now living with.”
Edward Bond, a 30-year resident of Plainview, agreed, saying the trucks sound like “railroad cars passing in the night.” He also said that he can actually see the amount of dirt being generated by these big rigs and worries, “imagine what we can’t see.”
Tanya Lukasik, a Hicksville resident and organizer of an effort to save trees along the roadway, said that the access highway designation has “opened Pandora’s Box,” in that trucks are using South Oyster Bay Road now more than ever.
“The new designation transformed this local roadway lined with homes, businesses, schools and houses of worship into a virtual highway,” she said. “The public was uninformed, unprepared and blindsided by this change. It undermines the health and well being of the area.”
