North Berwick residents press select board to curb heavy truck traffic on Maple Street

Wendy Cowan, chair of the Town of North Berwick Select Board, and board members heard an extended public complaint and follow-up discussion about heavy commercial truck traffic on Maple Street during the board’s July meeting.

Resident Dwight Wright said Maple Street "has picked up an awful lot of traffic recently" from Maine Rock and Recycling and from Curtis Excavation and urged the town to keep heavy vehicles on wider roads. "We would encourage that this heavy duty commercial truck traffic uses Lebanon Road instead of Maple Street," Wright said, noting Maple Street’s residential character, multiple bus stops and a 90-degree curve near Route 4.

Why it matters: Board members said the issue raises safety concerns for children, pedestrians and bus traffic on a narrow, residential road. At the same time they flagged practical and policy limits — town officials said restrictions can prompt requests for similar limits on many other local roads and that enforcement would require police resources.

The board and town manager discussed technical comparisons Wright provided: Maple Street’s pavement width was described in the meeting as about 33.5 feet (with the narrow approach to Route 4 nearer 17 feet), while Lebanon Road was described as substantially wider (about 86.5 feet) and containing designated turn lanes. Wright said he has lived on Maple Street for 33 years and cited 17 new homes and regular pedestrian and school-bus activity there.

Town Manager Dwayne Morantown reiterated that the town already posts seasonal load limits and maintains a traffic ordinance ("That's our traffic ordinance, which determines what our roads are or parking is and anything road related," he said), but that any permanent restriction would benefit from explicit criteria. Cowan warned that a restriction applied to one road could prompt similar requests for other roads: "If we do it for 1, be prepared to do it for all," she said.

Board discussion and next steps: The board did not adopt a formal restriction at the meeting. Instead members directed staff to investigate options and report back. Specific next steps the board requested included: surveying what neighboring towns use for criteria, asking State local-roads staff (referenced in the meeting as Pete Coughlin) for guidance on signage/weight/"no through trucks" rules, and assessing enforceability and police workload. The board also asked staff to contact local contractors and quarry operators and said it would trial targeted enforcement and speed-trailer placement as interim measures.

Clarifying details provided in the meeting included Wright’s estimate of road widths and his account that some commercial drivers are following GPS routes that send them down Maple Street; officials explained legal exemptions (for example, certain service and delivery vehicles) that limit the effect of pure weight limits. Town staff pointed the board to the existing traffic ordinance (packet page 22) as the starting legal reference for any restriction.

What remains open: The board asked staff to draft objective criteria for when to impose through-truck restrictions, to survey peer towns and state guidance, and to return with options including signage language, enforcement implications and potential permit processes for local contractors. No vote or ordinance change was made at the meeting; the board said it would revisit the item after the staff survey and consultations.

The discussion concluded with the board agreeing to continue reviewing the matter; staff will report findings to the board for future action.