Berlin Council To Consider Truck Ban On Baker Street

Berlin Council To Consider Truck Ban On Baker Street
Berlin Council

BERLIN – The Berlin Town Council is expected to consider prohibiting truck traffic on Baker Street in an effort to preserve the historic road.

According to Town Administrator Laura Allen, on Monday the council should discuss a contract to aid in road repairs as well as a resolution that would ban trucks on Baker Street.

“The agenda hasn’t been published yet but you can look for those items to be on there,” Allen said at Wednesday’s meeting of the Berlin Historic District Commission.

Allen’s comments came after Baker Street resident Suzanne Parks approached the commission to share her concerns regarding the deteriorating historic street. Parks said her street was the last one in town that still contained oyster shell cement. The historic street, however, has undergone significant wear and tear in recent years, particularly as traffic has increased with the closure of nearby Harrison Avenue. The middle portion of Harrison has been closed since June of 2016 when municipal officials refused to pay the price the Adkins Company set for the piece of road in front of the store.

Parks said Baker Street was suffering the consequences.

“Our street is in dire straits,” Parks said. “We want it restored.”

Parks told the commission she’d been to the Berlin Town Council with her concerns but that nothing had happened so she’d decided to approach the historic commission. She said the deteriorating cement down the center of the road and blacktop along the outer edges of it now sounded like rumble strips.

Allen advised Parks and the commission that the council was aware of the problem. She encouraged those with concerns to come to Monday’s 7 p.m. meeting. She said she was working on a resolution to present to the council that would prohibit truck traffic on Baker Street. She also plans to present the council with a contract with Davis Bowen & Friedel (DBF) that would allow for the design of street repairs.

“It’s a pretty expensive project,” she said.

Allen explained that because residents wanted the oyster shell portion of the street restored, the project, which the town had budgeted $30,000 for, was actually going to cost at least $120,000.

“I’m asking DBF to find somebody to replicate the oyster shell cement mix,” she said, adding that was not something readily available.

Commission members, referencing the proximity of the Taylor House Museum, asked whether the blacktop along the edges of the street could be eliminated so the entire street could be done with oyster shell cement.

Allen explained that would cost at least twice what the town was expecting to pay now.  She said she knew residents wanted to see the street improved but said it was a matter of finding financial resources.

“I understand their frustration,” she said.

Commission members asked where trucks, many of which go to and from the Adkins Company, would go if they were prohibited on Baker Street.

“There’s the rub,” Allen said.

About The Author: Charlene Sharpe

Alternative Text

Charlene Sharpe has been with The Dispatch since 2014. A graduate of Stephen Decatur High School and the University of Richmond, she spent seven years with the Delmarva Media Group before joining the team at The Dispatch.