Relying on GPS, truckers end up in quiet Columbia neighborhood

JARED PABEN - THE BELLINGHAM HERALD

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BELLINGHAM - In July, a Swedish couple trying to drive to Italy's isle of Capri typed in "Carpi" into their GPS unit. It took them 400 miles off course to an industrial town in northern Italy, where they discovered the error only after asking at a local tourism office how to get to Capri's famed Blue Grotto.

The moral of this story: Don't always trust your GPS, the computerized global positioning systems that provide directions to drivers via satellite.

That's a lesson some semi-truck drivers are learning in Bellingham as they follow their GPS units past "no trucks" signs and through Columbia neighborhood's quiet residential streets, where they're causing damage, including to a traffic island.

"They're trashing the place," said resident Flip Breskin, who told neighbors about the problem through her e-mail newsletter.

One neighbor has counted 10 semi-trucks at the intersection of West Street and West North Street, where trucks are driving over a traffic island and damaging plants installed by residents.

They're driving on streets that aren't built to handle the weight, damaging curbs and breaking off a trail marker post, Breskin said. It's also unsafe for pedestrians.

Some of the trucks are turning from Northwest Avenue down Lynn Street to North Street, passing two "no trucks" signs as they go, Breskin said.

One neighbor talked to a driver stuck at the traffic island at that intersection. The driver's GPS unit was set to show walking paths.

Neighbors once had to pick up and move a parked car to keep it from being damaged by a truck, Breskin said.

Bellingham police are aware of the situation, and they want people who see trucks in the neighborhood to contact them, either by calling 911 or 676-6911, said Kat Dearborn, crime prevention unit officer. Violators could be fined $124.

"We're just asking people to write down the license number and if there's a truck name so we can follow through," she said.

Official truck routes in the area include parts of Meridian Street, Squalicum Parkway and Roeder Avenue. They also include parts of Iowa Street, Ohio Street, State Street, Wharf Street, Cornwall Avenue and Chestnut Street.