MANSFIELD — Legislation aimed at stopping the flow of trucks on non-truck routes in the city got a fast green light from Mansfield City Council on Wednesday evening.
Scheduled for a first read on Nov. 5 and an eventual vote on Dec. 2, local lawmakers opted to press the gas and immediately approve a bill stiffening penalties for truckers headed north and south who opt to take more direct routes through the downtown, rather than using Adams Street.
The current city law makes violations of the law various degrees of misdemeanor — a minor on the first offense and then harsher with subsequent repeat offenses within one year.
The proposal lawmakers unanimously approved Wednesday makes such violations “unclassified” misdemeanors with fines of up to $1,000 and two points on a violator’s driver’s license.
Penalties in each case will be determined by Mansfield Municipal Court judges.
Enforcement of the existing ordinance has stepped up since Mayor Jodie Perry took office in January 2024. (See charts above)
In all of 2023, the Mansfield Police Department issued five citations for truckers who failed to follow the established route. That’s about one ticket every two months.
Since February of 2024, officers have handed out 177 tickets to truckers for violating section 339.02 of the city’s codified ordinances, an average of about eight per month.
Safety Service Director Keith Porch has said enforcement has increased due to citizen complaints and also a police department that has seen its staffing levels slowly increasing during the past two years.
6th Ward Councilwoman Deborah Mount thanked the city administration for the legislation.
“I know trucks not following the truck route has been an issue for a while. I’m just glad to see something brought to us that will hopefully help address this problem,” she said.
Porch told council members the city plans improved signage to make it clearer to truck drivers not familiar with the route.
“The engineer is planning to put new signage both in the north part of the city and the south to make that obviously more visible to the truck traffic either approaching from the north of the city or from the south,” Porch said.
“I hope we never have to write one ticket. But we want to make it very clear we want the trucks to stay on the approved truck routes, so they’re not mixing in with pedestrians in our downtown area and obviously not ruining our city streets that are very costly,” Porch said.
Perry said the city engineer’s office has worked this year to better align and time street lights on Adams Street.
“If you (saw) the pedestrian push buttons go up, that was part of that. There is timing now, so that we’re trying to also help the trucks move through downtown,” the mayor said.
“Obviously when you’re driving up the hills, you don’t always want to stop with a big heavy truck. They have to, of course, but we’ve also tried to push at it from that way to entice them. Because when they come down Main Street, they will hit every light just like the rest of us,” Perry said.
in other action involving mansfield city council on wednesday:
City Council also:
— authorized the public works director to seek bids for utility collection printing and mailing services.
— authorized the public works director to seek bids for the disposal and land application of wastewater sludge.
— authorized the public works director to spend $82,163.08 for a new Bobcat backhoe to be used at the Clearfork Reservoir.
— authorized the safety service director to execute lease agreements with tenants at Mansfield Lahm Regional Airport to incorporate the city’s stormwater pollution prevention plan.
— appropriated $20,000 from the unappropriated general fund to pay for unanticipated plan reviews, electrical inspections and other services. Perry told lawmakers revenue for these services will offset the expense.
— authorized the safety service director to purchase Microsoft 365 software for all city employees at a cost of $113,681.70 for an annual subscription. The city’s Board of Control approved the purchase in October.
— voted to express support for an internal program name change for the city’s projected 2025 uses for Community Development Block Grant funds.
— voted to delegate hangar lease management responsibilities to the city safety service director “in order to enhance administrative efficiency.”
— agreed to spend $100,000 as part of a comprehensive land use study with Richland County and the City of Shelby through the Richland County Regional Planning Commission.
(Watch the Mansfield City Council meeting from Wednesday evening.)
