While the City of Boston's ban on hazardous materials hauling through the city will be lifted this week, the city has reached a deal with the Massachusetts Motor Transportation Association to encourage truckers to use Cross Street, rather than Commercial Street in the North End
, according to reports by the Boston Globe.

"Our ultimate goal remains to keep hazmat trucks away from Commercial Street," said Boston Transportation Department Commissioner Thomas J. Tinlin. "Yet, for the interim at least, it is necessary that Commercial Street is once again recognized as a Hazardous Cargo Route. The good news is that this burden will be shared by Cross Street and that the Massachusetts Motor Transportation Association will be working with us to ensure that traffic on Commercial Street is kept to a minimum."

In May, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration had rejected the city's request to reroute hazmat trucks around the city, but the city was granted a 45-day extension of its ban around that time. Currently, trucks carrying hazardous materials can travel through the city only between 6 p.m. and 7 a.m., and they cannot use Commercial Street. But that is supposed to change July 1.

According to the Boston DOT, the MMTA has agreed to strongly encourage their membership to continue using Cross Street until a new hazmat routing study and public comment process as required by federal regulations can be completed.

In 2006, Mayor Thomas Menino's administration halted all daytime permits for trucks passing through Boston with hazardous or flammable materials. But the federal government must approve hazmat routes, and Boston never consulted the Department of Transportation about it.

In November 2009, the FMCSA issued a pre-emption determination, which said "This de facto modification to the city's routing designation . . . serves to shift the risk associated with that transportation to neighboring jurisdictions by forcing hazardous material motor carriers to use alternative routes bypassing the city of Boston."

The city and the State of Massachusetts are currently working on a Hazardous Cargo Route determination. In fact, the FMCSA met with officials last week to hear about its progress.