Concerns over heavy truck traffic again came up this week at the Dublin-Darlington Community Council meeting, where resident John Sauers said he wants to see more done to address the reasons why trucks seem to dominate the area.
Sauers said traffic problems continue at Berkley Road and Route 1, and noted he thinks the weigh station being closed is a contributing factor.
"I'm not against tractor trailers… They are out making a living, but the reason we have got them here is based more upon economics than anything else, and that is an issue that is not really being addressed," Sauers said.
"The state may learn a lesson or two by backing off the toll situation, but the bottom line is, [trucks] shouldn't be coming through Darlington," he said, referring to the Maryland Transportation Authority board's recent decision to reduce a proposed toll increase on the Susquehanna River bridges, which generated concerns about more trucks avoiding the tolls by going on Route 1.
Sauers said he just wants more involvement in the issues of the trucking industry, including how truck drivers get around legal restrictions on height or weight.
"I am not asking for action. I just want this in the minutes," he said. "This council needs to be aggressively involved with this."
Resident Jim Murphy also said a tractor trailer recently crashed into a post near the Darlington fire station and knocked out electric power.
"It was extremely dangerous," Murphy said, suggesting that troublesome drivers be marked down and accidents be noted.
"Part of the remedy is documentation," he said. "Only with that are you going to get the ears of those who can make the change."
"If you look at Route 1 between here and Wawa, you see those white crosses on the side of the road. There's five of them. That's a dead body lying on the side of the road," he said.
Sheriff's Office Capt. Keith Warner agreed it was a problem and suggested getting Maryland State Highway Administration officials in to meet with the group, since the roads involved are primarily state ones.
"We are seeing a lot of truck traffic coming off of [Interstate] 83 onto [Route] 439 [toward Jarrettsville], and that's why it affects not only Harford County but Baltimore, Pennsylvania," Warner said. "It might be good for [state officials] to hear some of these things."
Council chairman Rich Norling disagreed that progress is not being made and said the group has dealt with the issue for a long time, without going into specifics.
"This community has spoken up for five or six years and we are getting action," Norling said.
Sauers said he did not think that was the impression in the community.
Warner said, "We are stepping up our enforcement… [Sheriff Jesse Bane] is aware of the situation, and it's something that is very concerning to him as well."
He said the issue has come up in Jarrettsville also, but it is up to state officials to be more aggressive.
"We know we can't do it alone," he said.
Also at the meeting, Warner told the group the recent storm kept law enforcement officials pretty busy in the Dublin-Darlington area and that crime is down overall both statewide and in the county.
There were a couple of burglaries in the area, "nothing really to be concerned about," he said, in a vacant home and a shed.
"Copper still is a hot item right now. It's spiked again," he said, adding truck enforcement continues to be in play in the area.
"I think we are starting to get a handle on it," he said.
The next Dublin-Darlington meeting will be an open town meeting, at 7 p.m. Oct. 19 at Darlington Volunteer Fire Company.