Delaware town bans trucks

The town council of Milton, DE, will begin enforcing a ban on trucks with three axles on local roads and the Delaware Dept. of Transportation will determine by the end of the week whether it will extend the ban to state highways running through the town.

The resolution passed by the Milton town council in 2010 notes the Delaware code allows municipalities to restrict traffic on local roads, but restrictions to state highways need DelDOT approval.

Although the ban was originally passed in November 2010, Town Manager Win Abbott told WBOC News that the town held off on enforcement pending a decision by DelDOT on exceptions or conditions to the ban for state highways like Route 5.

The ban will not include trucks making local deliveries or doing business in town, Abbott said.

The ban came in response to complaints about noise and congestion, according to Mayor Cliff Newlands, who said truck drivers should use Alternate Route 5, which bypasses the town instead of driving through the center of town.

Opponents to the ban argue that truckers should be allowed to use roads since they are funded and maintained with tax dollars.

“Unless the town is willing to pick up the maintenance fees for those, which I’m sure they’re not, then you’re not going to stop truck traffic,” Charlie Fleetwood, a Milton resident said. “Truck drivers do pay a tremendous amount of taxes to travel the highways.”

The town plans to install signage advising drivers of the restrictions. Several signs already in place advise truckers to use Alternate Route 5, Abbott said.

The mayor said council is expected to consider a proposal next Monday that would set the fine for violators of the ban at $75.