Truck Inspection Site Coming to Commack

A new commercial truck inspection site is coming to Commack.

According to a Newsday report, the site is planned north of the Long Island Expressway, on the west side of Crooked Hill Road between Henry Street and Commack Road, and will open in the spring.

The inspection site is intended to address police safety concerns regarding commercial motor vehicles, the report said. There are currently 69,079 registered commercial vehicles in Suffolk, more than any other county, but there is only one official inspection site in place, which is between Exits 65 and 66 off of the westbound side of the LIE.

Police were previously using the parking lot of the PJ Venture shopping center in Commack to conduct the hour-long inspections, but full lots posed problems and few truckers were coming in, John Baker, director of projects at PJ Venture told Newsday.

“Everyone knows the traffic situation up and down Commack Road is challenging. Enforcement is difficult because you have motor carrier enforcement, but they have had difficulty pulling guys over," Suffolk County Legis. Steve Stern said in an earlier interview with Commack Patch.

Instead of the shopping center, Baker asked the Town of Smithtown to use an adjacent 1-acre parcel that PJ Venture had donated to the town. The town then allowed the county to use the land for free to create the inspection site.

The county awarded Kings Park Industries a $434, 611 contract last month to create the site, Newsday reported. The site will include the inspection point, and a weigh station may be in place later this year.

Commack residents have been fighting to restrict truck traffic in the area, particularly on Commack Road and Townline Road since 2010. The Commack Civic Association has collected more than 300 signatures from local residents demanding Town of Huntington to take action in caring for Commack Road/Townline Road, and impose trucking restrictions.