Posted on 02/16/2018 7:45:24 PM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Atlanta's traffic is legendary and the Georgia DOT says the increase in truck traffic needs to be addressed. Because the Port of Savannah and the Panama Canal have been deepened, more freight is coming in which translates to more semi-trucks traveling in and out of the Atlanta hub. GDOT estimates trucks carry 75 percent of the freight in Georgia and expects truck traffic to double by 2040.
GDOT is in the early stages of planning the I-75 Commercial Vehicle Lanes project. The interstate will stretch from metro Atlanta 40 miles south to Macon. GDOT Operations Director John Hibbard says it would be the first roadway in the U.S. designated for commercial vehicle traffic only. “Not simply identifying lanes saying that this right lane is for trucks, it is its own separate roadway.”
The idea is to redirect north-bound truck traffic that currently shares space with cars on I-75 to two designated barrier-separated lanes for commercial vehicles only on Interstate 75 between McDonough and Macon, complete with its own entrances and exits. Truck-only lanes are usually reserved for short distances
The project is estimated to cost about $1.8 billion and GDOT says it should reduce northbound traffic delays by 40 percent.
The department says another benefit to the commercial vehicle only lanes is lower maintenance costs on the general purpose lanes because without the heavier truck traffic the auto lanes will see less wear.
As truck platooning and autonomous vehicles become more possible, GDOT says the new truck-only lanes will be potential testing grounds.
The state is waiting for a response from the federal government regarding funding for the $1.8 billion project, but say that, regardless of federal funding, Governor Nathan Deal says GDOT will be moving forward with the project using funds gathered by the state’s Transportation Funding Act, which raised fuel prices back in 2015.
Georgia transportation officials are expected to select a general engineering consultant by the end of the year. Construction is slated to begin in 2025 and to be completed by 2029 . The truck-only project is one of 11 new projects under what the state calls the Major Mobility Investment Program.
Interesting concept. Have to see how that shakes out. I think the way technology is going the autonomous truck will be commonplace by 2025, won’t need testing roadways at that point.
There are freight only routes, they are called boxcar trains. But Big Trucking likes to see cargo rail die off.
Why have 100 autonomous trucks all going the same route when you can put the materials on the back of on flatbed train?
Whose gas taxes are going to fund this?
“Why have 100 autonomous trucks all going the same route when you can put the materials on the back of on flatbed train?”
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I agree-——and I thought that was the whole point of these trains,to eliminate road traffic.
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I’m all for this. It’s getting harder and harder to commute on the freeway with a speed limit of 70, when you’re surrounded by 18-wheelers making lane changes and throwing rocks at you and so forth. The other day a mud flap flew off a truck and smashed my windshield. I don’t call it my drive to work anymore, I call it my daily Ben Hur chariot race.
As log as the trucks cant use car lanes. They will be constantly repairing the truck lanes all the time.
Exactly. A truck-only one-way system is called a railroad.
“The state is waiting for a response from the federal government regarding funding for the $1.8 billion project, but say that, regardless of federal funding, Governor Nathan Deal says GDOT will be moving forward with the project using funds gathered by the state’s Transportation Funding Act, which raised fuel prices back in 2015”
Time for the trucking industry to pay “it’s fair share!” Truckers have these “this truck paid X in taxes for highways last year,” and it’s always a pittance. The way our highways are built, if they were only for passenger vehicles, the’d last almost indefinitely here in CA with the exception of those where snow removal is required.
With truck only roads, let the trucks pay for 100% of them and their maintenance. Trucks have had a free ride on the taxpayers for years. After all, our railroads have to pay to maintain their tracks.
Because most people don’t realize it’’s far cheaper and better for the environment to ship things on trains. Once in the local area it does however need to be distributed.
Because a lot of it is food transport. A railcar can’t bump the receiving dock at Kroger.
If folks wanna slow down the China stuff coming into Savannah, they can do things like: quit thinking they need to update perfectly functional kitchens and bathrooms. A lot of home improvement costs are helping to build the wrong military.
I know some truckers that haul special baseball/softball diamond dirt almost 200 miles,..... to high schools!! Is that necessary? How many kids in the school play the game competitively? A tiny fraction.
Priorities, people, priorities.
Don’t forget that the Interstate Highways were built for Interstate TRUCK traffic and were supposedly designed to handle heavy loads, and a way to move military vehicles.
Wasn’t all that long ago that slower traffic kept right, left lanes for faster traffic and far left for passing - when feasible.
Then the Interstates turned into commuter routes and traffic continually jammed on ‘super highways’.
Then someone came along and figured it would be a good idea to restrict trucks to the two right lanes.
Now, the people that poked along at 5 to 10 MPH below the speed limit were having ALL the trucks ‘running up’ on them as the truckers figured the two right lanes were theirs.
So now, the slowpokes get over the left to keep the trucks away from them, thereby forcing those doing the speed limit to navigate around them.
I AM FROM THE GOVERNMENT AND HERE TO HELP.....yea right
Truckers have had a free ride??
Fuel tax (@ 6mpg)
Highway use tax (lots and lots of miles)
USDOT authority (not free)
Special permit fees (such as oversized loads)
When truckers get caught overweight there are stiff fines. I got taken to a state scale near Chicago once. $1,400. My argument that road construction forced me to detour to reach the customer. Officer said it is my job to call the powers that be to find the legal route, and the weight limits for the roads. I told him “two tandem dump trucks in bumper to bumper traffic would put more weight down on the road in a span shorter than the semi” I was driving. He said, “that’s true, but they are two units, not one”. I don’t plan on making that mistake ever again.
I’ve hauled oversized loads that weren’t very heavy, but had to have permits nonetheless.
Why invest in a concept which duplicates the functions of but is inferior to trains?
How about instead engaging in an intelligent alternative. .. like rolling back the punitive regulations and taxation which were implemented to make trucks competitive back before most of us on this forum were born?
Life is hard. It’s even harder when you’re stupid.
Otherwise known as a “train.”
They really need to fix the real problem which is Atlanta itself.
Trucks have had a free ride on the tax payers for year’s.¿
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You do not know what you are talking about, it is probably
much higher now but when I was still trucking it was costing
three or four thousand a year just for road tax. thanks
But supposing you were right there are many towns hundreds
Of miles from the rail roads so if you have your goods shipped
to the nearest rail road town don’t expect to get it when you want it.
And you better expect a lot of damage and some rotten produce,
you might also figure paying about twice the cost as the
taxpayers will have to subsidize the rail roads.
D
If the trains could haul it better and cheaper they would be hauling it all now.
I might also add that the main purpose for building roads was
to get freight from one place to another in many cases built by truckers.
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