Relief in sight for Route 9 communities after decades of heavy truck traffic

Jerry Collins, left, and Rob Bullock have been fighting against heavy truck traffic in their neighborhood for years, citing noise and safety concerns for their neighbors. | SPOTLIGHT DELAWARE PHOTO BY JOSE IGNACIO CASTANEDA PEREZ

This story is courtesy of Spotlight Delaware, originally published on Aug. 20, 2024.

Jerry Collins watched a semi-truck blaze down his neighborhood street on a recent afternoon, glaring from his back porch as the truck threaded the small residential street in New Castle along Route 9.

“There goes one now,” Collins calmly said as the truck passed.

He’s been living on Central Avenue, off of Lambson Lane, for over 60 years.

It’s a battle that Collins and Route 9 communities have been fighting for over 20 years, with residents often raising health and safety concerns from the heavy truck traffic. Industrial operations are also scattered throughout the corridor, with outfits ranging from asphalt contractors to chemical manufacturers.

The truck traffic contributes to pollution in the Route 9 communities that have been found to face higher rates of cancer and health risks due to their proximity to the heavy industry. Trucks rattle residents’ houses as they speed through neighborhood streets and kick up plumes of dust along the way, according to residents.

The Port of Wilmington, which handles 400 ships and over 6 million tons of cargo annually, buttresses the various historical Route 9 neighborhoods. Truck drivers oftentimes use weight and class-restricted residential streets to travel to and from the port or other industrial areas to the south.

Traffic on Lambson Lane increased by nearly 80% from 2020 to 2023, and now sees nearly 2,700 total vehicle trips a day, according to Delaware Department of Transportation data. In 2013, traffic on Lambson Lane averaged 48 tractor-trailers on an average weekday, according to a Wilmington Area Planning Council truck traffic study.

A recently adopted New Castle County Council ordinance may soon crack down on illegal heavy truck traffic in Route 9 communities, starting with Collins’ neighborhood.

“We get no satisfaction,” Collins said.

Despite posted restrictions on residential streets, including Lambson Lane, tractor-trailers often use them to reach the Port of Wilmington. | SPOTLIGHT DELAWARE PHOTO BY JOSE IGNACIO CASTANEDA PEREZ

‘Polluting the whole community’

A portion of Pigeon Point Road, which connects to the port and various industrial operations along Route 9, was closed for nearly three weeks in July, forcing truck traffic to redirect to nearby Lambson Lane.

The residential street has a 10,000-pound weight limit, prohibiting heavy-vehicle traffic aside from those conducting residential services.

Still, semi-trucks and tractor trailers can regularly be seen squeezing onto the street that houses the Rose Hill Community Center and is straddled by homes. Trucks are supposed to use the nearby Terminal Avenue to access the industrial area.

“You got all that soot and carbon dioxide just polluting the whole community,” said Rob Bullock, a neighborhood resident and the president of the Holloway Terrace Civic Association. “The community is taking a hit for this.”

The Pigeon Point closure backed up Lambson Lane with heavy truck traffic for days, residents said. The road was closed for the installation of two cross-road pipes from July 10 to Aug. 2, with little to no notice given to surrounding communities about the increased truck traffic the closure would bring.

DelDOT posted an online travel advisory about the closure and encouraged motorists to use Lambson Lane but denied any involvement in the change when reached for comment. DelDOT did not respond to further questions about the closure and notification to the surrounding community.

“DelDOT was not involved with this change, so I do not have any additional information to provide,” Charles “C.R.” McLeod, a DelDOT spokesman, said in an emailed statement.

It’s not the first time a Pigeon Point Road rerouting has affected the nearby community. In 1987, traffic was diverted to Lambson Lane from Pigeon Point Road due to construction on a railroad crossing, according to News Journal archives.

The closure sparked community outcry, leading to concerns about children’s safety and the neighborhood shaking with the increased truck traffic. In 1968, a 9-year-old boy was run over and killed by a tractor-trailer traveling on Lambson Lane after the boy lost his balance and fell from the sidewalk.

A year prior, a semi truck lost control on Lambson Lane and crashed through the fence of an elementary school, according to newspaper archives.

Jerry’s Law

A couple miles from Lambson Lane, in Wilmington’s Southbridge neighborhood, Robert Perkins sat on his front porch as a near-constant cadence of tractor-trailers drove in front of his house on a recent afternoon.

Route 9 cuts through the neighborhood that sits north of Lambson Lane but is similarly afflicted with heavy truck traffic due to its proximity to industrial facilities.

The trucks chewed the street up under their tires as the noise nearly drowned out Perkins’ voice. Perkins estimates that about 100 trucks drive in front of his house on South Heald Street every day.

Trucks kick up so much dust onto Perkins’ porch that he sweeps it up every morning.

“You know we’re breathing it in, right?” Perkins said, referring to the dust.

A recent New Castle County ordinance may bring relief to residents, like Perkins, along the Route 9 corridor.

On July 9, New Castle County Council unanimously adopted an ordinance to further enforce illegal heavy truck traffic on restricted residential streets, starting with Lambson Lane. The ordinance would establish a truck monitoring system that would cite truck drivers traveling on residential streets.

Cameras are expected to be installed and enforcement is slated to begin in September, according to New Castle County Police Senior Cpl. Richard Chambers.

Warnings will first be issued, with civil penalties following for subsequent violations. Second violations will cost $250 with third and subsequent violations ringing in at $500.

New Castle County Councilman Jea Street, who introduced the ordinance, has received complaints about truck traffic on Lambson Lane ever since he’s been in office, he said.

“The community has been sick and tired of being sick and tired,” Street said. “I’m pleased that this is going to provide some very much needed, overdue relief for the residents.”

Bullock has coined the ordinance as “Jerry’s Law,” after Jerry Collins and the yearslong battle he has fought against truck traffic in Route 9 communities.

The county ordinance was made possible by state legislation that was signed into law in 2019. The legislation authorized the state, counties and municipalities to install vehicle height monitoring systems to enforce vehicle size violations.

The first monitoring system will be placed on Lambson Lane with other potential locations being identified by DelDOT.