MURFREESBORO – A decision has been made.

The Murfreesboro Town Council accepted the recommendation of the town’s Truck Traffic Committee to keep weight limit signs prohibiting trucks over 80,000 gross pounds from using Main Street and some of the side roads.

“This truck question isn’t about commerce,” Truck Traffic Committee member and Murfreesboro resident Tim Horchler said. “They rarely stop when coming through town.

“Trucks making deliveries are not prohibited from coming into town,” Horchler emphasized. “I would be surprised if more than one out of 100 trucks stop when coming through town. I have been watching this for two years.”

Much of the concern about truck traffic arises from the impact heavy trucks have on the physical condition of the pavement. Safety is also a major concern.

“We are trying to prevent non-commercial traffic,” Horchler continued. “Many other towns have these restrictions. Franklin (Virginia) has a huge downtown business and no log trucks coming through town.

“The only way to manage this is to enforce it,” Horchler said.

“I recommend we keep the signs as they currently are and vote to enforce that,” Council member Bill Stephens said.

“We have to find some kind of a compromise,” Council member Billy Theodorakis said. “We have asked everyone and we can’t seem to find it. We don’t need to discourage commerce, but we need to stop the through traffic.

“Getting Main Street paved was a long time coming,” Theodorakis added.

“I spent $30,000 on fuel last year at the Trade Mart,” local trucker Stacy Futrell said. “I will have to go somewhere else now.”

“A lot of trucks come to our office and we need to find some way to determine who is just using it as a cut through,” Council member Sarah Wallace said.

“You are not going to be able to satisfy everyone,” Stephens added.

“We need to let the Highway Patrol do their work,” Horchler added. “Deliveries are not prohibited.”

“I think we should go with the recommendation.” Council member Lloyd Hill said.

“All I ask is a clear-cut guidance,” Murfreesboro Police Chief Darrell Rowe said. “The road is abused primarily by one company.”

After more discussion, Odum made a motion to accept the recommendation, Hill seconded the motion and the recommendations passed without objection.