A 37-year-old truck ban on Interstate 580 in Oakland, Calif., is now state law, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Gov. Gray Davis signed a bill Thursday permanently prohibiting trucks weighing more than 4.5 tons on a 10-mile stretch of I-580 between Grand Avenue in Oakland and the San Leandro border. Trucks have been banned from the area since the freeway opened more than 30 years ago.
State Assemblywoman Ellen Corbett introduced legislation to make the ban permanent, which the governor approved.
The article reported that a study by the California Department of Transportation found no reason to lift the ban. Last year Caltrans agreed to re-examine the ban at the request of the California Trucking Association, but fierce opposition from area residents forced the plan to be postponed.
"The CTA opposed the bill because it set a bad precedent," said Warren Hoemann, CTA vice president. "The ban prevents our organization or other planning organizations from readily addressing traffic changes that often occur in that part of the state."