Metro Councilmember alerts big rigs to new weight limit in Old Hickory

OLD HICKORY, Tenn. (WKRN) — Big rigs beware! Once Metro Councilmember has taken matters into his own hands when it comes to alerting semi-trucks about a new weight limit on Bridgeway Avenue in Old Hickory.

For the past week, Jeff Eslick has waved down truck drivers and pointed out the new eight-ton limit signs now placed along the roadway.

“Some cussed me. Some symbolized their disdain for what I was doing, but overall everyone was okay with it,” Eslick said. “Just the other day I was out here for about 90 minutes stopping trucks and turning them around and telling them the appropriate way. In that 90 minutes, I probably saw, turned around or talked to 50 trucks.”

The problem is two-fold: Eslick said that large trucks turning onto Bridgeway have created blind spots for drivers turning left onto Old Hickory Boulevard. Eslick added that it could be hard for heavy vehicles to slow down.

“Bridgeway’s sloped, so when the trucks go down, they either have to ride their brakes or they’re going to end up speeding. This hampers businesses and there’s residential just right off of Bridgeway as well,” Eslick said. “I want to make it to where businesses are able to have customers that feel safe pulling in and out, and also the residents of the area be able to use the area without worrying about being run over by a big truck.”

As an alternative to Bridgeway Avenue, Eslick said that trucks could use Industrial Road to access Robinson Road and Old Hickory Boulevard. Although it might take some getting used to, it’s a change that Eslick believes will keep residents safer.

“I’m going to stand here and tell people to go the [right way], try to get MNPD [the Metro Nashville Police Department] and the Highway Patrol to help me until the message gets to them that there’s a better way,” Eslick told News 2.

Eslick would also like to work with the Tennessee Highway Patrol’s motor carrier division, which would have the ability to write tickets to those violating the weight limit as well as inspect semi-trucks on the roadway.

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