The Rialto City Council on December 13 approved a moratorium on truck traffic on seven spans of roadway throughout the city and adopted parallel restrictions on truck parking.
The intent of the truck traffic moratorium, which is to be if in effect for 45 days, is to serve as a buffer between residential neighborhoods and those areas within the city limits where industrial and logistics uses are intensifying.
According to the urgency ordinance that was adopted on December 13, “[T]he city council observes that inter-city truck traffic on Rialto streets has substantially increased, causing congestion and safety concerns for residents and threatening the economic viability of recent commercial development. [T]he planning division and city council, upon review of the existing truck routes in the general plan, determined that certain segments previously approved for general truck traffic may no longer be appropriate for such use. [I]nadequate control of truck traffic on local streets causes congestion inconsistent with the best economic interests of the community, decreases the city’s ability to regulate traffic in a manner to protect the general public, and may adversely impact the environment, all of which pose a current and immediate threat to public health, safety, and welfare.” According to the resolution for the ordinance, the city planning commission and the city council … require require a reasonable period of time to study existing truck routes and truck traffic control measures to determine the potential adverse impacts on the environment, traffic, aesthetics, and visual quality of properties within the city, and to make recommendations on appropriate alternative routes.”
More than two years ago, on November 10, 2020, the city council approved entering into a professional services agreement with ADVANTEC Consulting Engineers to conduct a citywide speed survey and truck route study. The truck route study was completed in September 2022. The city council and city management intend to use the truck route study as the formal documentation and justification upon which to base updated truck routes citywide through amendments to the Rialto General Plan.
According to the resolution for the ordinance considered and passed by the council on December 13, “[P]ursuant to Government Code Section 65858, the city council may adopt as an urgency measure an interim ordinance prohibiting any uses that may be in conflict with a contemplated general plan, specific plan, or zoning proposal that the legislative body, the planning commission or the planning department is considering or studying or intends to study within a reasonable time.”
Consequently, according to the resolution which the council approved with a vote on December 13, “The Rialto City Council hereby adopts a moratorium pursuant to California Government Code Section 65858 on the use by intercity commercial vehicles with three or more axles weighing 9,000 pounds or more, of the following streets within the City of Rialto: Riverside Avenue from Locust Avenue to Ayala Drive, Ayala Drive from Casmalia Street to Riverside Avenue, Ayala Drive from I-210 freeway to Baseline Road, Baseline Road from Cedar Avenue to the east city limits, Pepper Avenue from I-210 freeway to Rialto Avenue, Slover Avenue from Cactus Avenue to Riverside Avenue, and Santa Ana Avenue between the west city limits and the east city limits.
As the 45-day moratorium went into effect as of December 13, it is to last until January 27.
The city council has the option of of extending it after the 45th day elapses.
A truck storage moratorium is also in effect for 45 days. It prohibits the creation or expansion of truck and container parking facilities in the city. It too can be extended.
In anticipation of changes in those elements of the general plan relating to truck travel throughout the city, municipal officials are in discussion with businesses using lorries and are preparing to update posted truck route signage.