Published: July 17, 2008 12:05 pm         

Coal trucks

Dealing with them could be complicated

The Downtown Development Commission is looking at what some members see as a problem with coal trucks traveling through downtown Cumberland.

The commission indicates it wants to make it a close look, and that's wise. The possible solutions could create more of a problem than the perceived problem itself.

City planner Dave Umling's vantage point in the Public Safety Building allows him to see numerous dump trucks carrying coal. He believes many are from Pennsylvania, but wants to be sure where they're coming from or where they're headed before anything is said or done.

Anyone familiar with the downtown has long been aware of the truck traffic, but not every truck is a coal truck. There are trucks of all sizes and shapes, ranging from tractor-trailers to cement trucks and box trucks. Many bring product to our local businesses and have excellent reasons to be here. Estimates are that 40 tractor-trailer loads of ink, newsprint, pre-printed advertising inserts and other supplies arrive at the Times-News each week.

It's likely that heavy truck traffic damages our streets, and trucks definitely contribute to congestion - although the downtown streets would remain clogged even if there were no trucks.

Diverting all but the necessary truck traffic away from the downtown would be highly desirable, and most truck drivers who are bound for other destinations would probably prefer to bypass the downtown and delays they will encounter there.

Finding alternate routes is a possibility, but there are only a limited number of ways from one side of Cumberland to the other. The development commission realizes that the effect diverted traffic will have on neighborhoods must be considered. The matter of identifying trucks that are necessary to local business and industry and deciding how to deal with them is another factor.

Cumberland is not alone in this. Neighboring communities - particularly in the Georges Creek area, which is bisected by a coal haul route - have had similar concerns for many years, and they know satisfactory solutions aren't easy to find.