N. Smithfield, R.I. Bans Heavy Traffic By Town Hall

Truck drivers used to maneuvering around the town of North Smithfield, R.I., will have to find another route. Officials will soon begin enforcing a new ban on heavy trucks weighing more than 4 tons in the Slatersville Historic District around town hall.

Signs are currently being posted around the area that read, “Local Deliveries Only – No Through Trucking – 4 Ton Weight Limit.” Next month, police will start imposing $50 fines for first infractions and $100 for subsequent violations.

Heavy traffic is banned from traveling on Main Street, North Main Street, School Street, Green Street and within 0.3 miles of the Town Hall on Main Street.

Lawmakers started pushing for the ban on heavy traffic after seeing accidents involving large trucks attempting to navigate the narrow village streets and getting stuck on the town hall wall.

An exception to the ban is for trucks making local deliveries, emergency vehicles, state and municipal vehicles, public transit vehicles, school administration vehicles, and vehicles participating in parades.

The same trucks will also be prohibited from crossing the Slatersville Stone Arch Bridge on Route 5 during of a state construction project scheduled to begin in spring of 2015.

In anticipation of the project, trucks weighing more than 15 tons are not currently allowed to travel over the bridge, which carries Route 5 (Providence Pike) over the Branch River.

Sources
The Call