There's a long discussion elsewhere on parking tickets given to truckers waiting to dispose of salt water. I have to agree with the individual who said it that giving out tickets is not exactly helpful.
I side with the truckers on this issue. They need to be helped, not made to feel like second-class citizens.
With regard to "safety," the oil companies could hire someone to wear a reflective vest, and hold a sign with "slow" on one side and "stop" on the other side. In Boston, they use off-duty policemen for these pop-up problems until the situation is resolved. These policemen make a lot of money and generally retire at 45 years of age, and spend their retirement years reading nasty letters to the editor about how big their pensions are.
Every truck driver has a cell phone. This is not rocket science. Airports in San Antonio, Boston, and I assume elsewhere, have solved the "waiting problem."
Sounds like a 16-year-old looking for a summer job could work out a business plan in 10 minutes, propose it to the city and/or county, manage the waiting problem, and make enough money to hire a 14-year-old to manage it. He/she could contract out a lemonade stand to his/her 8-year-old sibling at the same site.
Having said all this, I see all of this as growing pains and these things will be worked out over time. But it will certainly help if folks work together on this rather than fighting it out with $20 traffic tickets.
bRUCE,
ReplyDeleteHOW ABOUT HAVING THE TRUCKS BUY PARKING PERMITS FROM THE CITY EVERY MONTH TO PARK ON CITY STREETRS ( SAY $100. PER MONTH) SO THE CITY GETS THE INCOME AND THE TRUCKERS GET THE PARKING ON CITY STREETS, OR PARK ON PRIVATE LOTS.
NICK ANDERSON, KEY WEST.
Another good idea. Because I don't live in Dickinson and because I don't drive trucks, I don't know all the issues, but the point is that the city govt needs to work the problem, not simply hand out tickets for a problem that isn't going to go away, and, in fact, will likely get worse.
ReplyDeleteThe parking problem is actually occurring outside of Dickinson city limits. The disposal well in question is approximately 12 miles north of Dickinson in Dunn County. It's located about 1/8 of a mile off the highway. On a normal day there are between 20-30 trucks lined up waiting to get in, but only room for about 8 trucks on the access road. These trucks were lining up about 20 deep on Highway 22 on the shoulder, but the approach to the well is located on a hilltop. This is causing south bound traffic to cross into the north bound lane on a hill - a traffic hazard to say the least given the amount of traffic on this already congested road.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I think the owner of the disposal well could easily solve this problem by developing some of the surrounding farm land into a parking/staging area. As someone who drives this road numerous times throughout the day, I can honestly say I cringe every time I drive through this site because of the danger it prevents.
In established communities with good zoning requirements, the local govt would require adequate parking for any commercial endeavor before approving the building permit. You've hit the nail on the head. The solution is not to ticket the truckers but to fix the underlying problem, and parking would help.
ReplyDeleteWe have a very, very similar problem inside the city of Williston and it is quite incredible. No tickets are given, only trucks need to be there, and one would drive on the stretch of road at one's own risk. But at least the truckers are not being ticketed. Somehow, and it is quite unbelievable, the truckers are doing the best they can -- they are certainly demonstrating outstanding driving skills, parking, turning, etc.