Residents urge Fremont to stop heavy truck traffic on North Broad Street

Multiple residents during the public comment period urged Fremont city leaders to curb heavy truck traffic on North Broad Street, saying the street is being used as a through route despite recent work and a council vote to limit through trucks.

Ellen Lund, who said she lives at 1929 North Broad Street, said the trucks returned after construction and that existing signage and the EGT definition have left drivers ‘‘more apt to use’’ Broad Street. Lund asked the city to replace misleading signs, lower the speed limit (she preferred 25 mph but said 30 would be acceptable), install a pedestrian-controlled signal at 19th and Broad, and prioritize enforcement against speeding and engine braking.

Jean Chapel said the city accepted jurisdiction from the state after construction and therefore has authority to adopt and enforce truck-district rules, such as weight limits (she mentioned 26,000 pounds as an example). Chapel urged physical traffic-calming measures — lane narrowing, turn restrictions or humps — and said the city should submit authoritative routing data to commercial navigation providers (Google, TomTom, Apple Maps, Apple/Map providers and OpenStreetMap) so routing systems stop directing semis onto Broad Street.

Loretta Maestro told the council that a recent sign change had designated Broad Street as a truck route ‘‘within days’’ of a unanimous no-through-truck vote, that multiple local businesses now classify semis as local traffic, and that semis frequently speed and use engine braking. Maestro warned that hazmat loads increase collision risk and recounted three semi-related deaths in the area last year.

Don Atwell, a longtime Broad Street resident, described two policy options: rebuild the roadway to accommodate heavy trucks (redesignation as a business route and widening to four lanes) or slow traffic to 25 mph with four-way stops at key intersections to re-route trucks onto the south beltway. He noted recent public investments — about $62 million for the south beltway and $2 million to resurface Broad Street — and said the current pavement could be eroded by continued heavy truck use.

Council members did not act on a specific ordinance during the meeting, but the repeated, detailed public comments such as calls for clearer signage, enforceable weight limits, speed reductions, traffic calming and navigation-data updates establish a clear set of community priorities for staff and council follow-up.