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Monday, July 16, 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DECATUR - The Decatur City Council on Monday took the next step towards rerouting heavy truck traffic out of the downtown area, passing an ordinance prohibiting certain types of vehicles on downtown streets.

Council members during a regularly scheduled meeting Monday night voted unanimously in favor of the ordinance prohibiting vehicles with more than six wheels on Franklin, Water and Main streets between Wood and Eldorado Streets. The City and downtown merchants have for years wanted to find a way to move heavy truck traffic out of Downtown Decatur while taking into account the needs of the city’s trucking base, an integral part of the Decatur economy.

For several years now both merchants and shoppers have complained about the “wall of truck traffic” that now exists on Main and Franklin streets through downtown, essentially separating businesses and pedestrian traffic from the central core. This has hindered pedestrian traffic and made adding amenities like sidewalk dining almost impossible.

Plans are for truck traffic to be redirected around downtown onto Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Franklin, Wood and Main Street south of downtown, a route that also allows truckers to avoid the mostly-residential portion of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive south of Wood Street. The proposed prohibition will be directed toward vehicles having more than six wheels, including vehicles pulling trailers, but will not include emergency vehicles, school buses, motor coaches licensed for the commercial transportation of passengers, vehicles making service calls or deliveries to residences, businesses or construction sites within the downtown or vehicles participating in approved parades or events.

It is proposed that the prohibition begin August 6, 2012.

In other business council members also unanimously approved an addition to the local Enterprise Zone to facilitate construction of an electrical substation for Archer Daniels Midland Company’s east processing plant. The project’s expected capital investment is expected to be between $39 and $47 million.

Contact Billy Tyus at 217-424-2727 for more information.