The Observation Deck

We live on Parkwood, 1 block east of the high school. For the past 3 days, a steady barrage of 18 wheel Mac trucks has been going up and down our street to haul away the construction debris. We assume that this is because they don't want to wait for the lights on Bunts. Does anyone know if this is legal? Our street was just redone a few years ago and I know it wasn't reinforced like Bunts was to handle heavy traffic.

Any information regarding this situation would be greatly appreciated.

Hi Amy,

They should not be using your street. On most side streets in Lakewood, the weight limit is six tons. I have also seen overweight trucks using Belle, Marlowe, Lincoln, Wascana, and others. As much as I dislike it, the trucks do sometimes have to use Clifton and Bunts because of the construction at the schools. However, I cannot think of any reason for them to be using Parkwood. I have also observed these trucks driving too fast and sometimes recklessly on these streets.

I have seen these trucks drive right by occupied police cars on side streets and nothing is done most of the time. I am not sure what the reason is for this. Perhaps there is some kind of policy where contractors have immunity from weight limits.

If there is a time of day when this seems to happen most frequently, I would call the police non-emergency line and request special attention to the street for overweight trucks using it. I'm not sure how effective the next two ideas would be, but they may be worth a shot if you have time:

1. If it seems to be a particular company doing this, you could try calling the company and complaining. Since you said it looks like the trucks using your street are hauling debris away from the school construction site, you could also call the Superintendent's Office or Jim Reitenbach, the Operations & Construction Director for the Lakewood City Schools and complain.

2. If it is a city contractor using the street (Fabrizi, Shelley Company, Great Lakes Construction, 21st Century), you could try calling the city engineer or the mayor's office.

Like I said, I don't know how effective those last two ideas would be, but just something to consider.

They are coming up Robinwood too. It appears that the problem is that the trucks need to enter the construction site on the southbound side of Bunts but that the trucks are coming from I-90 and there is no place for them to turnaround so they go down to Detroit and go around the block...hence Parkwood and Robinwood are abused.