Soperton City Council Holds Public Information Meeting Regarding Semi Truck Ordinance

The Soperton City Council held a public information meeting on Oct. 16 at the city hall regarding the city’s ordinance banning semi trucks from driving and parking on city roads.

According to Mayor John Koon, the ban was enacted to preserve the city’s water infrastructure, which was not designed with the weight of fully loaded semi trucks in mind. The weight and the vibrations caused by the trucks can dislodge the city’s 50 year old water pipes, resulting in citizens receiving unclean water.

The ban also aims to preserve the city’s roads, as they are paved much more thinly than county or state roads and thus are more susceptible to degradation. The city has allocated $250,000 for road repavement, and Koon also said the city lost a $60,000 chipper to a pot hole.

The ban would apply to most roads within the Soperton City limits, including residential streets. However, streets which are used for deliveries to local businesses such as gas stations would be exempt from the ban.

Koon also claimed the city would provide a lot for truckers to park their vehicles overnight as an alternative to parking on the side of the street, though a date when the lot would be available was not set.

“We know how valuable you guys are,” Koon said. “We know what you bring to the economy here. All we’re asking is to be patient and allow us to come up with a plan.”

Many citizens in attendance protested the ban, primarily citing a trucker’s need to return home at night. If a trucker could drive their truck home, a family member or partner would have to drive a separate vehicle to pick them up, a scenario many in attendance objected to.

One attendee, Tony Bush, claimed Swainsboro had considered a similar ban on semi trucks but had rejected it. Mayor Koon responded by citing Vidalia and Mount Vernon as cities which had accepted a semi truck ban.

Other attendees, such as Nathan Page, decried the ban as narrow-minded, claiming many of the city’s civil service vehicles, such as trash trucks and school buses, weigh more than the average semi truck and thus cause more damage.

“I know it’s the easiest target,” said Page. “I know it’s the lowest hanging fruit, but that’s not going to be the main source of your problem.”

Other counterarguments included trucks with loads in need of monitoring, such as live animals, and trucks which drive home without a load, thus weighing in under the acceptable 20,000 pound limit.

Following the discussion, Koon asked drivers who lived within Soperton to attend the city council’s next meeting so they could discuss the ordinance and potentially make amendments to compromise. He also assured citizens the council members were listening to their concerns and taking them under consideration.

“This is our town,” said Koon. “This is your town. This is everybody’s town.”