Local Legislators Propose Prohibition Of Hazardous Cargo Traffic in City

In an effort to prevent trucks carrying hazardous materials from driving through Cambridge, two local state legislators have proposed re-routing the trucks through less-populated towns.

"Due to the high population density of Cambridge, coupled with the massive volume of hazardous materials which currently travel through the city, a major accident could spell disaster," the bill's co-sponsor, Sen. Michael LoPresti Jr. (D-Boston), stated in testimony before the Public Safety Committee, which is considering the bill.

Currently, large trucks must exit the Mass Pike extension before they reach the tunnel which travels under the Prudential Building, said Edward King. Community Affairs Director of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority.

The Allston-Cambridge exit is the last possible exit before the tunnel. This results in some trucks carrying hazardous materials passing through Cambridge on their way to refineries in Revere and Everett, a staff member of the Committee on Public Safety said.

Once off the turnpike, trucks travel up Cambridge's River St., through Central Square, on to Prospect Sq. and out of Cambridge, according to Lt. Calvin Canter of the Cambridge Police Department.

"River St. has become these trucks" exit ramp and Western Ave, their entrance ramp," said an aide to Rep. Saundra Graham, (D-Cambridge), the measure's sponsor. She added that those truck routes go through residential neighborhoods.

The proposed, single-sentence bill would prohibit vehicles transporting hazardous materials, "from traveling on that portion of the turnpike known as the Boston extension."

"People in the community have complained about the noise," Graham's aide said.

"I don't frankly know what can be done about it for it to be realistically resolved," the committee staff member said. The bill is too loosely worded to have any force, he added.

Graham's office said the bill will most likely be revised to allow the transportation of materials classified as hazardous through Cambridge, when their final destination is local businesses.

Two previous hearings on the bill, which has been introduced to the Public Safety Committee for the past three years, sent it to a legislative study commission on hazardous wastes, the committee staff member said.

According to the staff member, the bill's passage is "a tough one to call."