Semis ignoring signs in Marshall County prompts concern for safety and road conditions
BREMEN, Ind. --- Semi-truck drivers are ignoring “No Through Truck” signs when traveling through Marshall County. Residents are concerned recently paved roads may quickly deteriorate because of that.
Through trucks are supposed to use state roads when traveling unless they are making a local delivery. Instead, truck drivers are using county roads as a shortcut when they can use US331, US30, US31, or US6.
“That traffic could go a mile or so up the road and get on 31 and accomplish the same thing,” Marshall County Commissioner Mike Delp said
He thinks using GPS apps on smart phones for the shortest route is causing the increase in truck traffic.
Before repaving work was done a few years ago to Fir Road and the Plymouth-Goshen Trail, road conditions were not ideal. With an increase in truck traffic, the roads could suffer.
“These county roads were not always, have not been designed for that,” Delp said. “They’re narrow and don’t have as good of a foundation underneath them for heavy truck traffic.”
Marshall County Commissioners are still in the brainstorming phase of finding a solution for the problem. However, Delp said the intentions of prohibiting truck traffic on county roads is not to interfere with the economy, or any local deliveries
Many residents who live along county roads aren’t welcoming heavy truck traffic.
. “Two weeks ago we had a concerned citizen come in from the Bourbon area, about Fir Road,” Delp said.
That concerned citizen was Pat Walters. He lives along Fir Road and says he’s seen grain haulers, cement haulers, car haulers, and all different kinds of semis travel through Fir Road despite signs that say “Through Trucks Prohibited.”
“It just so happened I had to go that way a day or so later and I followed a through truck, a semi, from US 30 to Bremen. So they could have gone up 331 but they went all the way on Fir Road,” Delp said.
Walters said the problem is that police are not enforcing the county roads where semis aren’t supposed to drive.
“To really enforce it, we’d have to have the sheriff out here, someone sitting out here, and we really don’t have time for them to sit out here and police that,” Delp said. “Until somebody gets a ticket and the word gets out that they are being ticketed, it’s gonna be tough probably to put a dent into that truck traffic.”
Others who live along county roads in Marshall County said truck traffic doesn’t bother them. They say speeding and ignoring stop signs are bigger issues.
Marshall County’s highway supervisor is checking that no through truck signs are posted on county roads. The commissioners will meet soon to address the issues.