Southampton Village Approves Truck Weight Limit on Prospect Street

Southampton Village adopted a new local law on July 10 prohibiting commercial trucks over 10,000 pounds from Prospect Street, between North Main Street and North Sea Road.

“This street seems to be another street… that should be included in the restrictions of overweight vehicles traversing our village residential streets,” said Mayor Bill Manger.

The restriction was prompted by complaints from residents and safety concerns related to underground infrastructure.

“She sent photographs of almost 18-wheelers going down that street,” Manger said of one resident’s letter. “Her house literally shakes from the trucks that go by.”

Trustee Rob Coburn agreed.

“It’s actually called a storage pipe,” he said. “It’s meant to be overpressurized to actually store excess gas. So it’s a fairly large gas pipe. And the concern was just the truck weight and settling.”

Resident Mindy Fortin of Little Plains Road asked whether the change would divert trucks onto other nearby residential roads.

“Is that going to draw them down further, the trucks, to like Little Plains?” Fortin asked the board.

Board members clarified that the restriction only applies to Prospect Street and confirmed that similar bans already exist on other residential streets. The law does not affect standard passenger vehicles.

Another resident questioned the list of affected streets.

“My only question is where did the analysis come from to decide that these should be the streets that restrict truck traffic at 10,000 pounds?” they asked. Manger responded, “There was a traffic study done probably at least 12 months ago.”

Village officials emphasized that enforcement would be key to the law’s success.

“You actually have to have 10,000 GVW,” said Manger, referring to gross vehicle weight signage required for police enforcement. “The streets in the village prior to a year ago… did not have the proper verbiage. Therefore, it was unenforceable.”

The updated local law aims to fix the issue by using consistent legal language and signage across affected streets.