Truck Drivers Ignore Signs and Continue to Drive Through This Parchment Neighborhood

A heated debate broke out in a local Parchment Facebook group today after authorities began pulling over multiple commercial truck drivers near an infamously busy intersection.

Parchment resident James Carden shared a photo of a Michigan State Police motor carrier enforcement officer who was ticketing commercial trucks near the intersection of Island Avenue and Riverview Drive saying,

Island Ave (next to Biggby) trucks are getting pulled over one after another all morning! They ignore that no trucks sign all day everyday.

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Carden says today is the first day he's seen officers out enforcing the non-truck route on Island Avenue, a road that is already badly damaged. "About 30 trucks each day ignore that sign." said Carden, who believes the non-truck route was put into place because of the homes situated close to the intersection, the tight left turn, and the already destroyed road leading to the old mill.

At the time of Carden's post there were two trucks pulled over waiting to be ticketed. It's no surprise that Parchment locals were quick to chime in with their thoughts. Says Karen Smith,

How about they concentrate on those that are speeding and running lights through town? People driving trucks are usually ones that are delivering or picking up goods that keep this town going. Glad for police presence but their efforts are directed at the wrong people.

Tambra Craven:

Seriously, they made them their own road that gives them lots of room to get on and off Riverview. One pulled right out in front of me last night from Island to Riverview Dr. He almost hit a corvette that was head North on Riverview in the inside lane.

Several commercial truck drivers were quick to defend the actions of their peers, arguing that quite often their GPS is not up to date with each town's non-truck routes and drivers like the ones that turn onto Island Avenue are making an honest mistake. The drivers also argued that the sign is poorly placed for visibility, being too close to an existing traffic light which obstructs its view.

Chris Simmons, a truck driver who lives in the Parchment community has a few ideas of how to deal with this issue:

What I suggest is that the town put up signs that say "Truck Route" with an arrow... pointing to which directions at all intersections is a truck route, Or place an additional "No Trucks" sign on each side of Island Dr. 100ft before the intersection with an arrow or "On Island Dr." below it on Riverview Dr. May also use a solar flashing yellow light as additional warning.

I can understand the frustration on both sides of this argument, but I'm not sure what it will take to come to a resolution. Have you had any close calls at this intersection?