Supervisors vote 3-2 on Giles Avenue truck ban

Pulaski County logoBy MIKE WILLIAMS

Patriot Publishing

 

On a 3-2 vote by the Pulaski County Board of Supervisors last Monday night, large truck through traffic on Giles Avenue in Dublin will be prohibited – pending final approval by the Commonwealth Transportation Board.

The narrow decision brings to an end a months-long debate on whether or not Giles Avenue will be open to large truck through traffic.

Dublin Town Council earlier approved a similar resolution to prohibit such truck traffic down Giles Avenue, which is a two-lane street running through a residential neighborhood in Dublin.

At Monday night’s meeting, one resident – E.W. Harless – addressed the board on the issue.

“I’m the one who brought this up,” Harless proclaimed. “I was going to my son’s house and one of those logging trucks run me off the road. That road’s just not wide enough. Plus, you have an adult center there, you have a library there, a daycare center on that street and a Christian school on that street. So there’s a lot of kids.”

Harless said he was told those areas were fenced in and that would take care of the problem.

“That’s not right,” he said.

Harless, a retired Norfolk – Southern employee, told a story about a past incident in which a train hit a child who had somehow gotten out of a fenced in yard.

“You don’t want nothing like that to happen,” Harless told the supervisors.

“I feel like the kids and the neighborhood deserve some relief from these trucks,” he added.

“I brought this up because of children.”

Prior to a vote on the resolution, Massie Supervisor Mike Mooney said passage of the prohibition on trucks would potentially fix one problem and create another.

“I’m very concerned about safety and children on Giles Avenue and for all the citizens in Pulaski County. The safety of children is why I ran for a seat on this board,” said Mooney.

“People say this is used by trucks as a shortcut down Giles Avenue.  I don’t see it that way. I think they (truckers) use it as a safe way to enter Route 11.

“They have a stop light there where they can stop and make a safe turn. The alternative for them is the ramp off Route 100. They have to cross four lanes of traffic there just to get in the left lane heading toward Radford.

“I think we’re addressing a safety issue in one location, and maybe creating one in another location.

“I think we’re creating an accident there waiting to happen,” Mooney stated.

Robinson Supervisor Jeff Reeves agreed.

“I agree crossing those four lanes in a truck is an accident waiting to happen. Someone is going to get frustrated, pull out and someone’s not going to stop. And I’m afraid we’ll have a fatal collision there with a 90,000 pound truck,” Reeves said.

“I think it’s a safety issue for everyone.”

No supervisor spoke in favor of the prohibition, however, during the roll call vote on the issue, Supervisors Chris Stafford (Cloyd), Chairman Laura Walters (Ingles) and Dirk Compton (Draper) all voted “yes” on the resolution, while Mooney and Reeves voted “no.”

With approval of the resolution, a request will go to the Commonwealth Transportation Board to close Giles Avenue to tractor-trailers, logging trucks and similar large trucks.  The prohibition will not apply to pickup trucks or panel trucks.