Tooele police propose code changes to limit heavy trucks on residential streets

Tooele — Police Chief Adrian Day told the Tooele City Council on May 21 that he will bring proposed amendments to municipal code 10-2-7 to a future business meeting to limit where heavy commercial vehicles may travel within city limits.

Day said the draft changes would remove confusing language in the code’s definitions, specifically the phrase “licensed or actually,” and rely instead on gross-vehicle-weight as the determining factor. "I'd like to remove that wording licensed or actually because afterwards, it talks about gross weight, and every truck driver understands what, gross weight is," Day said. He also recommended removing a provision that allows the chief of police to give written permission to deviate from the truck routes.

The proposed edits would keep exemptions for pickups, deliveries and construction-related travel but would not automatically allow heavy trucks to travel to private residences unless specifically included for construction work. Day said the city’s commercial-vehicle inspectors requested the change and that inspectors commonly encounter drivers confused by the existing definition.

Council discussion focused on where heavy vehicles currently travel and how the routes are enforced. Day and council members noted that residential streets are built to thinner standards than industrial streets and that overweight vehicles can accelerate pavement deterioration. Day described a recent traffic stop in which inspectors found a truck carrying nearly 100,000 pounds on streets not rated for that weight and said the load exceeded the vehicle’s rating.

Council members and staff discussed practical enforcement and outreach. Trucking schools, private carriers and depot operators were cited as common sources of local route violations; Day noted some GPS systems and public web listings still show outdated routes. He and other council members suggested increased signage, social-media outreach and business notifications as part of enforcement and education.

Council members asked staff to draft the ordinance language and return it on the agenda for a formal vote at a future business meeting rather than making changes at the work session. The council did not take a formal vote on the ordinance at the May 21 work meeting.

Questions and technical details remained part of the discussion: staff referenced pavement thickness differences between residential and heavy-duty arterial streets, and council members asked whether the map of designated truck routes should be pruned to state roads only or whether alternative routes should be provided for drivers to reach dispatch and industrial sites.

The mayor and staff said they will bring a draft ordinance and a recommended truck-route map back to the council for a formal vote at a business meeting.

The discussion included multiple operational points but no formal action was taken at the work meeting; the item was referred to a future business meeting for consideration.