The San Diego City Council voted 9-0 Tuesday to reroute heavy duty trucks away from Barrio Logan residents' homes, schools and senior centers.
The Environmental Health Coalition proposed the resolution to the City Council's Environment Committee in April in an effort to protect Barrio Logan residents from pollution caused by trucking routes running through the community. Under the resolution, vehicles weighing more than five tons will be banned on certain streets in Barrio Logan that typically have a low volume of traffic, including parts of Boston Avenue, Main Street and 28th, 29th, 30th, 31st and 32nd streets.
"In my time in office, we have been working on prohibiting trucks from entering the Barrio Logan neighborhood and I am very pleased that this truck route will finally be approved by the City Council," said District 8 City Councilman David Alvarez, whose district includes the community. "Barrio Logan is a thriving and growing community in the heart of San Diego and this truck route will improve the residents' quality of life, lessen noise, traffic and pollution."
The Port of San Diego, the Barrio Logan Planning Group and the Chicano Park Steering Committee supported the EHC's proposal. While collecting air quality data in Barrio Logan in 2017, the coalition observed 59 heavy-duty trucks in a two-hour period driving on Boston Avenue between 28th and 32nd streets.
According to the coalition, that section of Boston Avenue is the only area considered exclusively residential in the Barrio Logan community. Jerry Rivero, director of the coalition's Toxic Free Neighborhoods campaign, said that in a community battling pollution from body shops and a nearby shipyard, its a step in the right direction, but he said enforcement is key.
"We know that enforcement of the new resolution will be key to ensuring that heavy-duty trucks steer clear of the restricted streets where people live, learn and play," Rivero said. "There are studies that have shown that diesel particulates are small enough to enter the lungs and essentially enter the bloodstream, and that leads to asthma, heart-related diseases, cancer, and early and premature deaths.”
The EHC counts the newly passed resolution as a win for residents of Barrio Logan.
“So the win is, now that there is essentially an expansion of prohibited streets, heavy-duty vehicle trucks are not allowed to drive generally on the core, and again, the sensitive areas such as schools or residential areas," Rivero said. "That’s big. The other thing too is that there’s a truck route linked to this and tied to this, which helps route those heavy-duty vehicles on Harbor Drive.”
