During the January Coffee County highway committee meeting, members spent substantial time on resident complaints and operational concerns about heavy truck traffic on Asbury Road and nearby routes.

Unidentified Speaker 2 opened the topic by reporting residents’ complaints about trucks using Asbury and Old Airport roads instead of designated truck routes (SEG 282–291). Committee members said many drivers are following GPS directions and that local roads are being used as shortcuts to facilities such as a cheese plant and a new greenhouse/chemical/seed facility along the railroad in Asbury.

“We’ve had a farmer friend of ours out there taking a few videos,” one committee speaker said while describing trucks following GPS and using Benson Road where a sharp curve makes passage difficult for large vehicles (SEG 296–313). Members discussed the difficulty of keeping large trucks off local roads when drivers have proper registration, insurance and a valid license. Suggestions included asking the state to post signs prohibiting large trucks on certain local roads and contacting facility owners about routing; no formal enforcement plan was adopted during the meeting (SEG 333–351, 404–423).

The committee reviewed vehicle-count and speed-sign data from Asbury that showed about 2,000 vehicles per 24-hour period after discounting an erroneous higher reading; members said such volumes, combined with heavy trucks from Smyrna Ready Mix, quarries and new agricultural facilities, are accelerating wear on county roads (SEG 539–556, 560–603). Multiple speakers emphasized the challenge of changing routing when GPS services direct drivers through local neighborhoods.

Members agreed to continue monitoring the problem, with suggestions to pursue signage and to open dialogue with property and facility owners about access and truck routing. No formal motion to restrict traffic or to request state action was recorded (SEG 416–423).