Final Vote Set on Truck Weight Limits

Bake Parkway residents will get a last chance tonight to convince the City Council to impose tighter regulations on truck traffic.

The council is scheduled to give final approval for weight restrictions for trucks using certain city streets--an ordinance that some residents say won’t do enough to reduce noise from heavy vehicles.

With the opening of a Bake Parkway exit off Interstate 5 last spring came a flood of truck traffic that continues through the early morning hours, residents say.

“It’s very obnoxious, especially at nighttime,” said Jim Richert, board president of the Lake Forest II Homeowners Assn.

Residents unsuccessfully pushed for a night curfew on large trucks on Bake Parkway.

Instead, the council in December passed an ordinance placing weight restrictions on trucks using several city streets. A second vote is required before an ordinance becomes a city law.

Councilwoman Marcia Rudolph said banning trucks on Bake Parkway would mean heavy vehicles would use other streets. “Where else would they go? Do they go on Lake Forest Drive?” Rudolph asked. “We don’t have that many streets under our control where we can put them.”