In an effort to keep trucks hauling waste from New York City on Interstate 81 and the Thruway, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer will soon meet with the New York City Department of Sanitation and hauling company IESI, Schumer announced in a news release Tuesday.

The truck traffic summit, which will occur sometime in November, is a way for the different parties involved to focus on a solution to a problem that residents of Finger Lakes communities have been complaining about for years.

Citizens have expressed worries about out-of-state garbage haulers that frequently drive on local roads like Routes 20 and 90. The trucks are said to hop off the interstates to avoid tolls -- as well as to save on time and gas money -- as they travel to places such as the Seneca Meadows landfill in Seneca Falls, but residents are concerned about the quality of life, environmental and infrastructure issues they say such truck traffic causes.

Last Thursday, the Upstate New York Safety Coalition Task Force hosted a public forum at the Aurora Inn to discuss this very issue.

"Today, the good news is that I've secured the cooperation of Mayor Bloomberg, the NYC Department of Sanitation and IESI to meet to hammer out an enforceable agreement that will keep these garbage trucks off our local roads and put them back on the major highways where they belong. The goal of this meeting is to create a system rooted in accountability so we know these garbage haulers are living up to their end of the bargain," Schumer said.

For more on this story, read Wednesday's edition of The Citizen.