Latrobe looks to curb misrouted downtown truck traffic

Latrobe’s public works crew plans to install signs to guide large trucks properly through key downtown intersections to help protect from damage to traffic signals and curbs that soon will be upgraded there.

Public works Director Scott Wajdic told city council this week that PennDOT has approved signs that will prohibit tractor-trailers headed east on Main Street from turning left to head north on Ligonier Street.

A designated truck route provides for such rigs to continue east on Main for three more blocks, turning left onto Lincoln Avenue and then heading back west on Depot Street, passing Ligonier Street and finally turning north onto Jefferson Street.

But, Wajdic said, without posted signs, police can’t ticket trucks that turn off that route. He said his crew also will replace a sign that has gone missing that is supposed to warn trucks against turning right from Depot onto Ligonier.

Over the years, trucks making the unwanted turn at the cramped intersection of Main and Ligonier have bent street signs and knocked over a traffic signal, he said.

Rigs used to be about 60 feet in length, Wajdic noted, adding, “Now the tractor-trailers have a long nose and a sleeper on the back, and the trailers (alone) are 53 feet long. It’s a big difference when it’s trying to make that turn.”

He said signs also are missing to alert trucks headed south on Ligonier, from the bridge over Loyalhanna Creek, to turn right onto Oak Street and then left onto Jefferson to remain on the designated truck route.

As early as March, PennDOT plans to install new, improved traffic signals and handicapped-accessible curb ramps at Main and Ligonier and other major downtown intersections. Wyoming Electric and Signal of Wyoming, Pa., has been selected to complete the project, which has a cost of about $3.4 million.