TRUCK LANES:Los Angeles Moves for Truck Toll Lane System

Requests for Proposals (RFPs) will be issued shortly for similar truck lane studies on four other corridors – I-5, I-15, I-710 and I-215. The study specs leave open the number of lanes but SCAG officials have spoken of seeing them as an extra 2x2-lanes exclusively for trucks, but clearly the study will leave open to consultants to suggest different configurations and possibly staging. The truck lanes in their most developed form might form their own self-contained motorway system completely segregated by barrier and with their own ramps and bridges jumping over the mixed traffic. But clearly the less heavily trafficked sections might be simply striped off and might involved some at grade weaving movements.

They could be planned to form a network, and could constitute a major addition to highway capacity. They represent a major break with recent highway practice. Prior to the 1950s truck/car segregation was accepted, and we have the legacy of that in the cars-only ‘parkways’ of Westchester County, western Connecticut and Long Island as well as several in the Washington DC area. But the exigencies of the cold war, together with trucker lobby pressure have caused all roads built since 1956 in the US to cater equally for heavy trucks and light vehicles.

The truck lanes idea is the most significant innovation since bus lanes and HOV lanes were introduced in the 1960s. It has been adopted by transp specialists at the local metro plan org the Southern Calif Council of Govts (SCAG) on the basis that heavy truck traffic is rising into the range the 20k to 30k veh/day on several major area freeways and truck traffic alone will soon be filling 2-lanes each side. Since the trucks have their own acceleration and braking characteristics, need wider curving ramps, and generally do not mix well with agile private automobiles, safety and operational efficiency could both be served by providing them with their own roadway.

So far the concept has been pushed on the basis that the use of the truck lanes by trucks would be optional. They would be managed to give a better level of service than the unrestricted lanes and would be designed to attract trucks on the basis that they could roll by congestion in the free mixed lanes. At less congested times they could avoid the hazards of private cars darting in front of them. So long as tolls were managed at rates less than the value of time saved and other benefits, truckers would use them by choice. Trucking representatives have so far been cautious in reacting to the idea but it is hoped to gain their support for the concept.

324kms being studied

The 60 begins on the southeast edge of the central business district of downtown LA at one of the area’s most complex interchanges where I-5 and I-10 cross and US-101 terminates amid ramps to local streets as well. It picks up traffic at its western end from the ports on I-110 and I-710 and from nearby warehousing and terminals in and Central South LA as well as from areas west. The study length on 60 extends 70km (44mi) eastward with six fwy-fwy interchanges (ICs) [major ones being I-710, I-605, CA57, CA71, I-15 ] and 47 local ICs to I-15. In San Bernardino Co. The 60 continues another 57km (35mi) before merging into previously parallel I-10 near Beaumont. I-10 continues to Phoenix AZ and is the way to TX, FL and central Mexico for a lot of truck traffic. Most of 60 is either 6 or 8-lanes.

The SCAG Scope of Work for the study says it is “one of the most heavily used freeways by trucks engaged in inter- and intra-regional goods movement, serving both port and domestic traffic. It is of major importance in the distribution of consumer goods, in supporting our regional manufacturing base, and in facilitating international trade.”

Extended peak-hour delays of heavy trucks mixed with commuter cars are an economic drag on the region, SCAG says. Truck express lanes will be intended to ensure on-time deliveries, improved safety and reduced emissions. They will be built on the surface, elevated, in cut and maybe central or on the edges of the existing mixed traffic roadways.

The second study will cover 82km (51mi) of I-5, 29km (18mi) of I-710, 52km (33mi) of I-15, and 91km (56mi) of I-215. A total of 324km (203mi), adding in the CA60, will be under study for truck lanes. Initial cost estimates of 932 lane-km of truck lanes on 233km of freeway [CA60, I-5, I-15 and I-710] was costed at $1,683m or $1.8m/lane-km ($2.9m/lane-mi) so the total system would be over $2b. A SCAG paper of April 98 says:

“These truck lanes will serve as a system for moving commercial vehicles in a more efficient and less congested manner. Truck lanes will be grade separated from existing freeway ramps to minimize conflict between vehicles. Where sufficient right of way does not exist, new lanes (for unpriced traffic) will be placed on aerial structures so that existing lanes could be utilized for for truck facilities. Tolled truck lanes would accomodate two lanes in each direction, which is viewed as the optimal configuration for truck facilities.” (Contact: Kristine Leiphart 213 236 1827 leiphart@scag.ca.gov)