Yes to restricting truck traffic

Latest in a series of posts about Lehigh University and the Southside

Breena Holland is an Associate Professor at Lehigh University in the Department of Political Science and the Environmental Initiative. She is a past and current director of Lehigh University’s South Side Initiative.

Gadfly:

Response to Bill Gontram: Yes, I have also noticed an increase in truck traffic on 3rd Street. Last spring my students did a black carbon air monitoring project on 3rd Street. During the afternoon rush hour, there were a lot of tractor-trailer trucks going through the south side. Many of them were Fed Ex trucks. I agree this area should have truck traffic restrictions put on it. The city is not cleaning the ice off the south side of Third Street and so anyone walking on that side of the street is at risk for slipping off the ice in front of a massive truck, as well as other vehicles. But putting the ice problem aside, I believe that when the traffic on 22 gets backed up, the trucks take the route through South Bethlehem to get to 78. It’s a mess that we can probably address through road restrictions.

Breena