Council briefly begins discussion on truck route

Creston City Council discussed the possibility of a designated truck route through town during Tuesday’s regular meeting following a comment in the public forum two weeks ago.

Saving the road’s structural integrity was the basis of the public concern brought forward in a previous council meeting. The weight of 18-wheelers causes more stress on roads and is known to damage roads quicker than average passenger vehicles.

Council discussed several ideas before quickly finding potential issues with limiting certain roads and enforcement.

Initial ideas proposed limiting access for trucks uptown, but deliveries to local businesses require large distribution vehicles to frequent main roads through town, complicating any truck route.

Thoughts such as limiting access to Adams Street and smaller avenues connected to Adams Street were discussed, but quickly countered with other issues that would become present.

“Then are we going to have to come up with definitions for which truck can be on and which truck can’t?” said Terry Freeman, councilman at-large.

Narrow roads – especially those with parked cars – also create issues with 18-wheel trucks restricting the flow of traffic.

Cedar Rapids and Des Moines currently employ truck routes and weight limits on vehicles for certain roads throughout their cities.

The routes have load and size limits on vehicles to keep trucks of a certain size and weight out of high traffic areas.

There are exempt vehicles such as emergency crews, buses and utility vehicles.

“I think we need to look into what other cities are doing with truck routes a little.” said Dave Koets Creston Ward 5 representative. “Maybe we can get online, do a little investigation, see what we can find out and come back to it another time.”

Any future discussion on a potential truck route was not scheduled during the meeting.

In other city council news:

• Council unanimously decided to allow City Administrator Mike Taylor to receive bids for demolition of designated properties containing old, run-down buildings.

401 N. Birch St. was the focal point of the discussion because of the amount of salvageable cement on the lot and odor on the premises.

What started as a discussion, resulted in a resolution being proposed by Councilman At-large Steve Wintermute which was subsequently voted on and passed.

• A different resolution was passed, regarding 802 W. Jefferson St., to start the removal process of a dangerous building.

The resolution was also passed unanimously by the council.

• Temporary street closings were approved for Oct. 28 and Nov. 30.

McKinley Street – between Kirby and Stone streets – will be closed from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. for C.A.R.E. and the annual Bright Eyes in the Park fundraiser Saturday, Oct. 28

Council also moved to temporarily close streets for the Lighted Christmas Parade set to take place on Thursday, Nov. 30.

Streets will be closed at 6 p.m. with the parade set to begin at 7 p.m.