City Council Votes to Ban Trucks in Harvard Square

After more than a year, Cambridge residents succeeded in passing a petition through City Council on Monday to ban trucks weighing over two and a half tons from driving through Cambridge at night.

The ban, which the council approved 9-0, will be enforced from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. to limit through traffic--trucks that originate in Cambridge or make deliveries here will still be able to travel at night.

Cantabrigians, angry because trucks use residential streets as shortcuts around congested highways, said they saw the unanimous council vote as a victory for the city.

"We pay taxes to build, support and maintain highways," said Riva Poor, a Cambridge resident. "Instead, they use our streets to save 15 minutes. We residents are paying for their savings."

However, both councillors and residents noted that enforcement may be an obstacle.

City Councillor Henrietta Davis said she thought that although the truck issue was an important one, she believes it will be difficult to implement the new law.

She also cited the possible threat of a lawsuit from truck companies.

"The goal is a really right one, and I wholly support the idea of banning trucks in Cambridge at night. I am not overly optimistic that it will work," Davis said.

G. Pebble Gifford, a Cambridge resident and president of the Harvard Square Defense Fund described the truck problem as a longstanding one for Cambridge.

"I think this is a citywide issue," she said. "As citizens, we have to battle for the right think. It's time to act on trucks if we are going to have a city that is livable in the future."

John E. Moot, a resident of Coolidge Hill Road, said he thought that aside from housing, traffic is the number one problem for Cambridge.

Bad traffic conditions, he said, could reduce property values and quality of living.

Moot described the truck problem as a political issue, saying that Cambridge needs an aggressive initiative to solve it.

Although this petition was introduced just a year ago, Moot said that Cantabrigians have been working for 10 years to solve the truck problem.

"The idea of changing the zoning ordinance only started in the last couple of years," he said. "Prior to changing the zoning ordinance they were trying to limit the trucks in other ways, but they were not successful."

Moot said he expects that a lawsuit from truck companies angered by the ban will be forthcoming, but said he would like to see the law enforced.

"I hope that they will notify the major trucking companies coming through that the law is in effect. Then of course you have to put the police in the street to enforce it," the said.

Moot said he thought that the council's decision was major victory for Cambridge residents who supported the petition.

Although he said that ultimately he would like to keep large 18-wheel trucks from stopping in Harvard Square to make deliveries, he said he was pleased with the decision.

Many Cantabrigians who spoke at Monday's city council meeting stressed the fact that they were not trying to shut down the entire truck industry, but were simply trying to stop large trucks and oil tankers from speeding through residential streets.

Beverly Evans, also a resident of Coolidge Hill Road, said she has lived in Cambridge since 1968 and that this problem has been getting worse every year.

She described the agony of being lifted "three and a half feet" out of her bed in the middle of the night by passing trucks.

Sally Landis, a resident of Story Street, described the same problem. Story Street is made up of older Victorian-style houses that do not respond well to the shaking and disturbance created by large trucks.

Story Street will be part of the new 'historic district' in Cambridge, and Landis said this makes it even more important for the area to be protected from large trucks.