Neighbors Push for Harvard Street Trucking Ban

Police Chief to Apply for Ban; Needs State Approval

– Allison Goldsberry

It is one of the most heavily-trafficked streets in the city’s most densely populated neighborhood, and residents have had it with all of the noise, damage, and pollution they say all of the traffic, particularly trucks, has brought to their neighborhood.

After months of intense lobbying of public officials by local group South Medford Residents Together (SMRTO), the city is applying for a heavy trucking ban on Harvard Street.

Medford Police Chief Leo Sacco spoke before Tuesday’s City Council meeting after a resolution by Council Vice President Michael Marks brought the issue before the Council. According to Chief Sacco, state agency MassHighway has to approve the ban.

Chief Sacco said city engineers will have to document the problem for the city’s application for the ban. Residents of the neighborhood will certainly have plenty of information to share, as they have done their own informal documentation of the traffic and its impact on their neighborhood.

SMRTO member Jim Silva said an average of 500 heavy trucks (semi-trailers, oil tankers, and other “oversized” vehicles) make the trip down Harvard Street everyday. In this video created last fall, South Medford resident Jimmy Morse shows a seemingly endless stream of trucks and heavy vehicles traveling down the street.

“Excessive traffic and heavy trucking have turned this narrow neighborhood street into a polluted, potholed, noisy and dangerous expressway. The current situation is dangerous, untenable and potentially litigious,” wrote Jim Silva in an email to SMRTO members.

According to Silva, in addition to the noise and the potholes, vibrations from heavy trucks are negatively impacting Harvard Street’s homes. He said vibrations are damaging the structural integrity of houses and underground utilities such as gas lines. Silva said National Grad had to perform emergency gas line work on June 9 and 10.

Neighbors are also concerned with excessive speeding, pollution, and parked cars being side-swiped on the narrow street. In addition to the trucking ban, they are also looking for the city to enforce the 25 mile per hour speed limit, repair the road, and look for ways to reduce traffic jams.

Chief Sacco said MassHighway should receive the city’s trucking ban application within about a month.