(La Porte, IN) - La Porte Mayor Tom Dermody doesn’t believe truck traffic downtown can be reduced by imposing and enforcing weight limits.

 

Recently, La Porte County Commissioner Sheila Matias suggested weight limits on Lincolnway and enforcement to discourage truck drivers worried about fines from venturing into the downtown.

 

Matias proposed doing it for a year to see if it works as an alternative to constructing a truck route around the downtown.

 

Dermody said he doesn’t believe that would be a realistic solution, especially long term.

 

“I know the sheriff’s department has the portable scales, but I‘m not sure how that solves this problem 10 and 20 years in the future for what the projections are and allows us to get a walkable downtown,” Dermody said.

 

Initially, a four-lane highway around downtown was proposed to reduce heavy truck traffic.

 

Now, construction of a two-lane truck route is being offered by the city to reduce disruption rural landowners along the route fear would reduce their quality of life.

 

The commissioners recently voted against constructing a truck route, which would require federal dollars to build due to the projected high cost.