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• 'People of the Soil'

• Television revolution

• Lodi, Caltrans in apparent stalemate over where truckers can make a turn

• Changes for California

• Regional Roundup

February 9th, 2010

• Middle College High School rated one of the best — and a bargain, to boot

• Lodi decathlon boasts top team in county

• Man who sparked counterfeit case pleads guilty

• Local businessman will visit Haiti to look for family

• Man who claimed to be Yosemite Sam pleads guilty to meth charge

• David Harmer seeks Republican congressional nod

• Lack of evidence in case against suspect in 'drug deal' stabbing

• Regional Roundup

February 8th, 2010

• Public Meetings

• Locals pick best, most memorable Super Bowl commercials

• Regional Roundup

February 6th, 2010

• The Home Depot hopes to join Costco at Reynolds Ranch

• Meet Larry, Curly and Moe

• Baboon business

• Regional Roundup

• Several Lodi venues let you watch the Super Bowl in style

• Lodi Library celebrates 100 years of serving the community

• Culinary craft

February 5th, 2010

• Kids, teachers help Haiti by collecting pennies for Learning Link

• Lodi, Galt students reach out to help Haiti earthquake survivors

• Tasered suspect claims he is Yosemite Sam

• Hours of sweat and work go into putting on crab feeds

• Things looking up for state's real estate

• Correction

• Regional Roundup

• Stray bullet strikes Lodi home; police suspect gang activity may be factor

February 4th, 2010

• Managers at Geweke Toyota answer questions about recall

• Lodi City Council votes to replace play structure at Century Park

• Lodi extends ban on pot shops for another year

• Mokelumne River triathlon set for June

• Family, friends to run half-marathon in memory of Galt family

February 3rd, 2010

• Correction

• Delta College trustees again collide over stipend committee

• Bad bugs, weeds are hot topics at Grape Day

• Lodi-area senators Dave Cox, Lois Wolk admit to gifts; Tom Berryhill case pending

• Lodi Unified School District president issues warning to speakers over cuts

• Galt City Council avoids budget cuts — for now

• New Lodi Memorial Hospital emergency room opens to the public without a hitch

• Regional Roundup

February 2nd, 2010

• Local business leaders say tourism, Costco, Home Depot may play roles in city's future

• Correction

• Former Lodian Erica Davis is first paraplegic woman to summit Kilimanjaro

• Regional Roundup

• No snow leopards, otters for Micke Grove

• McNerney leads in campaign cash

• Police: Train victim was a Lodi teen

• Big rig plows 7 cars

• Jumpers across California

The following stories have received the most reader comments during the last 7 days.

• Will terrorists be given Miranda warnings? (75)
• Lodi Unified School District president issues warning to speakers over cuts (64)
• President Obama's first year (45)
• Many reject the politics of 'no' (45)
• Islamic symbol in mosaic — what is all the fuss? (44)
• Writer comments on Neely column (42)
• The Home Depot hopes to join Costco at Reynolds Ranch (41)
• Time to shed the convenient sham of 'Don't ask, don't tell' policy (34)
• We need to conduct respectful conversations (30)
• Tasered suspect claims he is Yosemite Sam (25)

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Lodi, Caltrans in apparent stalemate over where truckers can make a turn

If a trucker needs to make a delivery to a company on South Stockton Street, such as Pacific Coast Producers or Cottage Bakery, there appears to be no legal way the delivery can be made.

Truckers have been issued citations in the past few months now that the California Highway Patrol has stepped up its enforcement on turns that city officials maintain are perfectly legal.

It's an issue that Lodi officials fear could cause industry to relocate out of Lodi, and it could prevent the city from attracting new business, City Manager Blair King said.

For truckers entering Lodi on Highway 99, the Kettleman Lane exit is the only way they can legally head west into Lodi. And for those heading to Stockton Street industries, it is illegal for a truck 53 feet long — which is the industry norm now in California — to make a right or left turn onto Stockton Street.

Truckers are also affected in other parts of Lodi, particularly in the industrial area east of Highway 99.

King said the city submitted its truck routes to Caltrans in 1987 and again 12 years later. Caltrans didn't respond to the city's routes, and Lodi officials considered that to be tacit approval by the agency.

Due to the increasing number of major truck accidents in California, the state Highway Commission ordered the CHP to step up enforcement of truck route regulations in 2007, according to Assemblyman Alan Nakanishi, R-Lodi, who met with representatives of the city, Lodi industries and trucking representatives two weeks ago.

Right now, it appears to be a stalemate, but Caltrans spokeswoman Zelly Nogueira said she hopes that Caltrans' meeting with the city of Lodi on Jan. 11 will be beneficial.

Chuck Hahn, chief of staff of State Sen. Dave Cogdill, R-Modesto, said he is optimistic that the meeting will be productive. If it isn't, he and Nakanishi will work to bring all parties together to reach at least a short-term solution.

Not too long ago, big-rig trailers were only 48 feet long. These trucks could make turns at intersections like Kettleman Lane and Stockton Street, but once the trucking industry began enlarging the trailers to 53 feet — and the entire truck to 65 feet — it violated Caltrans safety standards.

"Commercial guys are driving larger vehicles with larger mass," CHP spokesman Adrian Quintero said.

Accidents with these larger trucks cause more injuries, deaths and destruction, Quintero said.

King said he has been told by industry and trucking representatives that while Caltrans maintains that the problem can be resolved merely by using 48-foot trailers, that size trailer simply isn't available anymore.

Quintero said that the CHP is merely enforcing the laws in the books.

The CHP uses a specially trained commercial unit to enforce the truck laws, Quintero said. These aren't the same officers who patrol freeways and county roads, he said.

In the early fall, truckers entering certain parts of Lodi began receiving citations from the CHP. They were mostly on Kettleman Lane and Victor Road, both of which are state highways.

King said he doesn't know why the CHP, which enforces Caltrans regulations, began issuing the tickets. It may be a change in software or interpretation of the truck routes, King said.

Issues Caltrans has had for one intersection — Guild Avenue and Victor Road — have been resolved, King said. That's because Archer Daniels Midland is building a factory at the intersection, and the city was able to require the firm to pay for improvements at the intersection for trucks, King said.

"That was happy coincidence," he said.

But other intersections like Kettleman Lane and Stockton Street involve companies that have been in business in Lodi for 10 to 20 years, King said.

East of Highway 99, Rick Anderson, who runs the Constellation Brands distribution center on Guild Avenue, said that truckers making deliveries to Constellation haven't received any citations since November; and Dennis Altnow, co-owner of Tiger Lines on Black Diamond Road, said issues there have been resolved as well.

Constellation has 30 to 40 trucks per day coming into its Guild Avenue center.

Constellation also has an application pending with San Joaquin County to allow Woodbridge Road, which is outside the Lodi city limits, to be used by 53-foot trailers from Highway 99 east to Woodbridge Winery.

Contact reporter Ross Farrow at rossf@lodinews.com.