New York Gov. David Paterson has agreed to look into the possibility of establishing new trucking routes to keep non-local garbage haulers out of small towns and away from lakes like Cayuga, Owasco and Skaeateles, according to a news release from U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer.

On the same day last week that a citizen's group met with elected officials in Ithaca to press for legislation to regulate truck traffic, Schumer said he called Paterson to urge him to examine having the state implement its own truck routing system. Paterson, according to Schumer's office, was very receptive to the idea and promised to look into establishing such a system.

Last fall, Schumer brokered a deal to encourage New York City waste haulers to stay off local roads, has argued that the ultimate fix to keeping trucks off rural roads is to have state environmental and traffic agencies establish standard truck routes. A truck routing system would force non-local, garbage-hauling trucks to use the state's highways and would not affect local trucking.

"These trucks are evading highway tolls and weigh stations, and are instead driving on community streets and country roads that wind along the region's lakes and cut through beautiful, historic towns," Schumer said in a news. "Paterson made it crystal clear in our phone call that he is committed to ensuring that these trucks stick to the interstates."