Local residents circulating petition demanding weight and size limits on all Riverhead roads

While the Riverhead Town Board considers an eight-ton weight limit on Twomey Avenue in Calverton, some local residents are demanding weight and size limits on all local roads.

Northville Beach Civic Association president Neil Krupnick says 18-wheel and 22-wheel tanker traffic is already taking an expensive toll on local roads and poses a threat to public safety. The traffic includes tanker trucks traveling to and from United Riverhead Terminal’s Northville facility as well as trucks simply using local roads to bypass more congested main arteries.

Krupnick has set up an online petition asking the board to set weight and size limits on all local roads and is asking residents to attend a May 20 town board public hearing on weight-restricting Twomey Avenue and demand weight and size limits on all local roads.

“While the town wasn’t looking, these massive tankers began pummeling Riverhead’s rural roads on a consistent basis, including Sound Shore Road, Penny’s Road, Sound Avenue, Twomey Avenue, and Edwards Avenue,” Krupnick said in an email.

“Curiously, the board is only concerned with these trucks driving on Twomey. We need to change that,” he said.

“New York’s five boroughs have weight and size restrictions,” Krupnick said. The city has “made it illegal for trucks of a certain size, especially those carrying hazardous materials, to enter because the larger trucks have a tendency to tip over.

“Let’s also do everything we can to prevent a tragic accident on one of our narrow roadways,” he said.

Local roadways aren’t built to handle the weight of large tractor-trailers and have suffered greatly as a result, Riverhead Highway Superintendent George Woodson told RiverheadLOCAL in March.

Weight limits currently exist on a smattering of local roads (depicted below), which are listed in Section 101-8 and Section 108-8.1 of the Riverhead Town Code.

Click on image below to see larger map in new window:

Eight-ton (16,000 lb.) limit is in effect on the following roads or portions of roads:
Connecticut Avenue
From its intersection with River Road in a southerly direction to the Town line

Fanning Street
From the intersection of Mill Road in an easterly direction to the intersection of JT Boulevard

Hamilton Avenue
In its entirety commencing from the intersection of Lincoln Street in a northerly direction to the intersection of Osborn Avenue

Hinda Boulevard
From the intersection of Mill Road in an easterly direction to the intersection of Industrial Boulevard

Industrial Boulevard
From the intersection of Mill Road in an east southerly direction to the intersection of JT Boulevard

JT Boulevard
From the intersection of Pulaski Street in a southerly direction to the intersection of Fanning Street continuing in a westerly direction to the intersection of Mill Road

Line Road
From its intersection with Grumman Boulevard in a southerly direction to its intersection with Wading River Manor Road

Marcy Avenue
In its entirety commencing from the intersection of Pulaski Street in a northerly direction to the intersection of Osborn Avenue

Middle Road
In its entirety, commencing from the intersection of Manor Road in an easterly direction to the intersection of Doctors Path

Mill Road
1,320 feet from the intersection of Route 58 in a northerly direction to the intersection of Osborn Avenue

Raynor Avenue
In its entirety commencing from the intersection of West Main Street in a northerly direction to the intersection of Osborn Avenue

River Road
From its intersection with Grumman Boulevard in a southwesterly direction to its intersection with Wading River Manor Road

Riverside Drive
From the intersection of Riverside Drive and State Road No. 25 to the entrance of the right-of-way serving the Riverhead scavenger waste plant and Riverhead sewer waste plant

Sweezy Avenue
In its entirety commencing from the intersection of West Main Street in a northerly direction to the intersection of Osborn Avenue

Wading River Manor Road
From its northeasterly intersection with Grumman Boulevard, continuing in a southerly direction, merging into Schultz Road and terminating at the Town line

Wading River Manor Road
In its entirety commencing from the intersection of Route 25 (Middle Country Road) in a northerly direction to the intersection of Route 25A

Wading River Manor Road
From its intersection with Schultz Road to the Town line

Youngs Avenue
1,350 feet from the intersection of Osborne Avenue in a westerly direction to the intersection of Twomey Avenue

A nine-ton (18,000 lb.) weight limit is in effect: