LOS ANGELES 220km truck pikes planned - $6.3b investment wanted

LA PLANS

220km truck pikes —$6.3b investment wanted

The greater LA area has produced a regional transp plan which provides for about 220km of 4-lane truck tollways estimated to cost $8,165m. The plan envisages private financing of the truck tollways to the tune of about 80% — $6.4b. The truck tollways would be built within the right-of-way of existing major freeways, notably the I-5, I-710, SR-60, and I-15. The SR-60 segment is top priority.

Ed Rodiguez senior planner at the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) which has developed the plan over the past several years says that truck traffic is large enough on a number of LA area freeways to warrant the special truck lanes. He says the thinking is that truck operators will pay tolls to bypass the congestion that is inevitable on untolled LA fwy lanes. A series of preliminary estimates suggests that the value of time savings to truck operators and potential tolls could go a long way to financing the truckways.

SCAG officials say that a public sector contribution to the cost of the truck lanes can be justified. Removal of heavy trucks from the mixed lanes will benefit not only the truckers but will improve the level of service, the safety and the comfort of car drivers in the regular fwy lanes. In addition the placement of many heavy trucks on special roadways would benefit Caltrans, the state highway authority through reduced maintenance needs on the fwy lanes. Heavy trucks do most of the pavement damage.

SCAG examined fwys in the LA area with over 40k trucks/day and found two major routes where 2x2 truck toll lanes seem readily justified as additions to the existing 2x4 and 2x5-lane fwys. These are basically an X-configuration superimposed on the LA area, (1) the southeast-northwest leg being I-5 (from SR-91 or I-605 past Downtown LA as far north as Santa Clarita at SR-126) and (2) the southwest-northeast leg composed of I-710 from the port areas of LA-Long Beach north to near Downtown LA then east on the Pomona Fwy SR-60 to I-15 Ontario northeast on I-15 through the Cajon Canyon as far as US-395.

2x2 truck lanes: The basic arrangement envisages 2 trucks-only toll lanes on the outside of each side of the mixed flow lanes, barrier separated, with flyovers of the mixed flow ramps at each interchange. A preliminary study shows only 30km (on I-15 northwest of the I-710 IC) will need to be doubledecked, in which case light vehicles would be put on an elevated structure to make space for the truck lanes on existing mixed flow pavement at grade. 195km can be built within existing right-of-way or with purchases of adjacent land.

11 fwys in the LA area are forecast to be carrying over 40k trucks/day by 2020 without the truckways. The truckways in 2x2-lanes are designed to carry 31.2k trucks/day. In fwys equipped with these truck tollways, trucks would be permitted only on single outside lanes of the untolled mixed flow roadway. At present in Calif trucks are normally allowed in all but the center two lanes of each roadway.

A SANDAG spreadsheet shows 2020 rush hour speeds forecast in the range 25 to 34km/hr whereas the truck tollways would be managed to operate at the posted truck speed limit of 55mph (88km/hr). Assuming hourly truck operating costs of $85 SANDAG estimated savings on the truck tollways of up to $1.44/km, suggesting the possibility of substantial toll revenues.

Highest priority truck tollway segment is 60km of SR-60 from I-710 to I-15, a $2.6b project for which SANDAG expects capital costs to be shared 40% by investors and 60% public funds. This is listed for completion by 2010. The other truck tollways (for I-710, I-5 and I-15) scheduled for operation by 2020 are listed as almost wholly investor-financed.

SANDAG officials said they have had general discussions with trucking groups about the proposal. They are wary of proposals for segregating trucks from light vehicles thinking this will lead to them being singled out for punitive charges.

But so long as they are not excluded from free lanes it is difficult to see why they should see the toll lanes as disadvantageous. Planners might see the possibility of designing the new truck lanes to be the beginning of a network of routes allowing more productive and efficient truck combinations — such as Canadian/Australian type B-doubles and triples — by designing the truck lanes for larger vehicle weights and dimensions.

The removal of heavy trucks from most of the regular fwy lanes should allow these to be built to more modest pavement thickness and striped to narrower lanes. Extensive study will be needed of the pattern of truck trips. To the extent that trucks are currently making long trips on LA freeways, special trucklanes could be expected to be a quite viable option. But for short trips special lanes seem to make far less sense because of the demands they place on special on and off ramps, or weaving movements with regular traffic. The 60km stretch of SR-60 I-710 to I-15 seen as the top priority stretch for truck toll lanes has 6 fwy-to-fwy and 30 other interchanges. A dilemma for the designers of any special lanes is how many ramps are worth building to local streets. (Contact Ed Rodriguez, SCAG 213 236 1800 www.scag.ca.gov)

SR-60 to I-125: These Californians have big plans if read literally. A truck tollway SR-60/I-125 the SCAG plan says! I-125? By the AASHTO route numbering rules I-125 would have to be some kind of a spur or bypass off I-25 which of course runs from El Paso TX through Denver CO and fades out somewhere in the wilds of Wyoming so SR-60/I-125 would go clear through Nevada. Do them Nevadans know about this Calif plan? Sad truth is SCAG just meant I-215 which keeps them intrastate? Ahhr — bit it feels so good finding others’ typos.