Police: road reopening after 20 years may be short-lived

The Trucker News Services

3/13/2008

VAN BUREN, Ark. — A road that has been closed to big rig and bus traffic for more than 20 years has been reopened by the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department, despite a Van Buren city ordinance.

The Fayetteville Road, steep and commonly referred to as "Log Town Hill," runs between Main Street and Mount Valley Boulevard.

There is a Van Buren city ordinance prohibiting trucks on the hill, but police and the people who live and work along the street have recently watched more and more trucks and buses ascend the hill.

The no-trucks-no-buses ordinance was passed in 1985 after the diver of an 18-wheeler lost control of his rig on the way down the hill. The big rig crashed into cars and a store in downtown Van Buren, killing nine people, officials said.

After passing the ordinance, the city placed signs on Log Town Hill warning truck and bus drivers not to go any further.

Police said they’ve not had many problems on the road until this week.

The truck drivers were issued permits by the AHTD allowing them to use Log Town Hill, police said.

“[It] should be within the next couple days all these permits will be recalled and as the truckers call to verify the route, they'll tell them, ‘No, we'll have to reroute you,’” Van Buren Police spokesman Brent Grill said today.

The city’s restrictions on the road include a weight limit of 12,500 pounds for any type of vehicle and a limit of vehicles with ten or more wheels. The restrictions include church buses, school buses, and tow trucks, officials said.

Fines for violating the ordinance range from $500 to $1,000.

Highway department officials in Little Rock did not return calls to reporters inquiring about why the department issued the permits.