New laws in Illinois and Massachusetts are targeting trucks which residents believe are a nuisance.
Trucks that weigh more than six tons will now be ticketed if they’re found roaming the streets of the newly renovated downtown in Huntley, Illinois, according to the dailyherald.com.
Business owners and residents in the city about 50 miles northwest of Chicago say large trucks like tractor-trailers and dump trucks are too noisy, stir up too much dust and will damage new brick crosswalks.
“The cars more than outnumber the trucks 50 to 1, and then you got school buses and everything else,” says resident Chuck Beach, who has driven large trucks through downtown. “The trucks only go there between the hours of 7 a.m. and 5 p.m.”
For the first 90 days of the new law, trucks that violate the weight limit will be given warning tickets.
In Chicopee, Mass., trucks were banned this week from using compression, or jake brakes, on a well-traveled road there, according to masslive.com.
Residents along Westover Road had been complaining about the brakes waking them up in the middle of the night. The city council is considering applying the brake ban to the rest of the city.
Truckers violating the new brake law will face a $300 penalty.
Trucks have been traveling Westover Road more often to avoid construction projects on another route.
