Truck drivers will no longer have to worry about a potential ban on heavy trucks on certain routes in New York's Finger Lakes area, as the New York State Department of Transportation said it will no longer pursue the restriction

, according to Kendra Adams, executive director of the New York Motor Truck Association.

The ban, Adams said, was proposed by New York Gov. David Paterson and Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), primarily in response to complaints of truck traffic from people in the community, according to a coalition formed to defeat this proposed regulation. The coalition is comprised of a number of business groups across New York state that opposed the proposal, including the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, the American Trucking Associations, the Ontario Trucking Association, as well as the New York Motor Truck Association, to name a few.

According to Adams, a NYSDOT study found that the ban would not have worked because it would end up shifting truck traffic from certain communities into other areas. Ninety-four percent of the truck traffic in the area is local, and most trucks would shift to other local routes, instead of to the Interstate system, the ATA says.

According to the ATA, the coalition was lobbying against the restrictions, arguing that they would unnecessarily burden carriers and local businesses, with no apparent safety benefits.

"Our concern is simple: imposing any restrictions on routes trucks may travel is an extremely bad precedent that will increase the cost and time of trips, waste fuel and, most importantly, cause a ripple effect that will touch on every industry that is important to this state's economy, especially upstate," the coalition wrote in a July 2009 letter to Gov. Paterson. "On behalf of the 515,000 men and women who are employed by the trucking industry in New York State, and the twenty-six associations representing large and small businesses across this state, we urge you not to move forward with the proposed regulation to restrict truck traffic on certain roads in the Finger Lakes Region."

The next step, Adams says, is for the trucking industry to work directly with residents of the Finger Lakes area to find a solution to the truck traffic problem that works for everyone.

The seven routes that were part of the proposed ban include NY Route 41 between U.S. Route 11 and U.S Route 20; NY Route 41A between NY Route 41 and US Route 20; NY Route 90 between U.S. Route 11 and US Route 20; NY Route 38 between NY Route 90 and the southern Auburn City line; NY Route 79 between NY Route 90 and the southern Auburn City line; NY Route 89 between the western Ithaca City line and US Route 20; and NY Route 96 between the western Ithaca City line and NY Route 414 and between NY Route 414 and US Route 20.

For more information on the coalition against the proposed restrictions, visit www.nytrucks.org/trucksbringit.aspx.