DUPONT, Wash. — A quiet DuPont neighborhood turned chaotic when semitrucks began trying to drive down narrow residential streets that were never meant to handle that kind of traffic.
“They’re huge, I mean when you go on I5 you see the Amazon prime semis- they’re semis they’re not those little trucks you see in the neighborhood,” said resident Judy Norris.
Pointing to the road right outside her home, Bobbie Freites said, “They come through and they try to make the turn, here, usually end up on this end of the sidewalk, hit this tree and then they realize they can’t make a right - because that’s a small street - so you hear them backing up and going back and forth.”
Freites said the trucks knocked down limbs from a tree in her yard. Norris was among several residents who claimed the big rigs damaged vehicles parked along the street.
“They totaled a car, by getting stuck at one of the corners here, and then there were other cars that had damage and they even drove up on a lawn.”
In a June 15th post on a city of DuPont website, the city said the truck traffic in the neighborhood began when nearby construction forced the closure of exit 119 from Interstate 5, from May 26th through June 4th.
The GPS systems on some Amazon trucks, heading to the company’s fulfillment center, were rerouted onto residential streets instead of a larger arterial, even after the exit re-opened.
In a statement to KIRO 7 News, Amazon spokesman Austin Stowe wrote: “We appreciate the City of DuPont bringing this issue to our attention and apologize for the disruption it has caused some residents. With construction complete at the Steilacoom-DuPont exit, our routing system is directing drivers to use that exit to reach our fulfillment center. We’ll continue to work with city officials until all residents’ issues have been resolved.”
In its June 15th post, the city said it was working to ensure that trucks are using the appropriate routes. DuPont has erected “no trucks” signs in the neighborhood, and police are monitoring traffic.
Neighbors told KIRO 7 they don’t believe the drivers are at fault. They have not heard from Amazon about whether the company will pay for any damage caused by the semitrucks.
Norris says she’s disappointed the city didn’t act as soon as trucks began entering the neighborhood. “The sad thing was that the city took so long to listen to the public,” she said.