Truck vs. Curve

It's truck season again. This morning a FedEx truck got stuck trying to make the turn in front of my building. The driver waited around until a pregnant woman waddled out of her home to move her car. Seeing how close he came to the utility pole, I'm surprised he was able to open the driver-side door. 

Seriously, though, the city needs to do something to regulate the flow of large vehicles around here. Yesterday, two chartered motorcoaches drove past and on Monday another truck got stuck on the same curve. That driver, being much less patient, blew his horn a few times until one of the neighbors came out to move her car. 

Two years ago there were never this many trucks (or any buses) coming down this street. My guess is that the online route mapping services list my street as one of the most convenient alternate routes between I-93 and Jamaica Plain. Unfortunately, those services don't take trucks into account. This is likely going to become a bigger concern as construction begins in Jackson Square and Dudley Square. Hopefully the neighborhood can get the city to be proactive before things get out of hand.

Comments

[Scott]

Lobby city hall to make the street off limits to trucks, put up signs and get the cops to enforce.

[3D]

Easier said than done. Last year, I brought up this issue to my city councillor at a small neighborhood association, but he seemed reluctant to get involved.

That meeting was shortly after the time that a van almost crashed into my building, resulting in the guardrail you see in the photo. I spoke to various city departments about street improvements and building speed humps, but the responsibility kept getting passed from department to department without resolution.

However, all of the neighborhood associations on Fort Hill are getting together next week for a big summit on neighborhood issues. I'm hoping that will be a good platform for building support for a truck ban. Considering that the beginning of the street isn't particularly wide, I'm surprised truckers look at that and think it's a good idea to drive up.

[seosmh]

I saw an article where this is a big problem in England, with all its old town centers with narrow streets. They did put the blame on GPS systems and online mapping services, which too often directed trucks into these old towns where they would then get stuck.

[Lyss]

is it a true shortcut if you get stuck and it takes longer to figure out how to get unstuck?