(Seguin) – — Guadalupe County has installed “No Thru” truck signs on five county roads in Precinct 1 as officials work to address an increase in large commercial truck traffic and protect roads not designed to handle a steady flow of heavy vehicles.
The new restrictions were approved recently by Commissioners Court and apply to Altwein Lane, Baker Road, Youngsford Road, Short Cut Road and Mount Pleasants Road. The county says 39 “No Thru” truck signs are now in place throughout its more than 700 miles of county roads.
Precinct 1 Commissioner Jacqueline Ott says the restrictions are needed as the area experiences rapid growth and increased construction activity.
“Precinct One, as you know, is experiencing a ton of growth quickly. The county roads that are maintained by the county are built in a certain way. They’re not built to maintain heavy truck traffic on a daily basis coming through that’s of construction or commercial quality,” said Ott. “The county roads are built to maintain the people that live in a county in normal traffic there. So, when we see all of this construction going on and these trucks that are carrying oversized loads going through, it’s destroying the county roads, I mean, both in the middle and wearing off the edges, et cetera, to where it’s not safe anymore for the citizens.”
Ott says the problem is also connected to commercial trucks attempting to avoid the Interstate 10 inspection and weigh station when it is operating.
“What we have found out is often that trucks that are out of compliance will radio each other when they know that the lights on the way station are on, requiring the stop,” said Ott. “And those trucks will avoid the I-10 weigh station by going different ways north or south of I-10 to avoid it and driving on our county roads.”
According to Ott, those roads are not built to withstand the weight of fully loaded commercial trucks.
“These are really heavy trucks that, they’re designed to drive on roads that TxDOT builds and maintains — so your highways and then your FM roads and stuff like that that the county does not,” said Ott.
She adds that the new signs also give law enforcement a way to enforce the restrictions.
“By putting no through truck signs on our county roads, it improves the safety throughout our county because it creates a mechanism by which law enforcement can actually go out and enforce a violation if one of these trucks is driving on our county roads,” said Ott. “Like I said, because these roads are not built to accommodate excessive semi truck traffic or the tremendous weight those vehicles are carrying, it helps the roads not be damaged if they’re not driving on there as often and gives law enforcement a mechanism to actually say, hey, we can ticket you if you are doing this because the sign is posted and now you’re on notice that you cannot do it.”
Ott says Precinct 1 was a particular focus because of its size and the number of major transportation routes running through the precinct.
“There’s a need to really look at this and protect it,” said Ott. “One of the requirements to be able to do that is that there’s a reasonable alternative.”
She pointed to the New Braunfels-area roads affected by the new restrictions –noting as examples — FM 725, FM 78 and FM 1044 provide alternative routes for commercial traffic.
“These people that are driving these overweight trucks have alternatives that are not out of their way or anything like that for them to drive on, and those roads are constructed to handle more weight versus ours,” said Ott. “So it was appropriate in this sense that it met those legal requirements as well.”
Again the county says the restrictions are intended to improve safety for local motorists, reduce damage to rural roads, extend road life and lower maintenance costs while still providing commercial drivers with reasonable alternative routes.