DOT Grants $11 Million for Truck-Parking Projects
Two of the nation’s busiest interstates will receive a combined $11 million in federal support for new strategies to provide truck parking on the congested routes, the Federal Highway Administration said Wednesday.
Acting FHWA Administrator Jim Ray said that Interstate 95 on the East Cost and I-5 on the West Coast had been selected under the Department of Transportation’s Corridors of the Future Program, part of DOT’s national congestion initiative that was announced last September.
“Instead of hunting for parking and adding to traffic problems, truckers can know when spots are vacant to plan their stops and time the delivery of goods into major cities,” Ray said. “Predictability is good for businesses selling products and consumers buying them.”
He said FHWA chose the two main north-south routes based on a corridor-wide approach to addressing congestion along heavily used interstates that trucks use to transport freight.
FHWA — which is part of DOT — also chose the routes because of uses of intelligent transportation systems, or ITS, technology to provide truckers with real-time information on available parking.
The technology will monitor parking availability and transmit the updates to truckers. Both corridors also will explore ways to allow truckers to reserve parking spaces ahead of time, DOT said.
On I-95, average daily truck traffic is over 10,000 on some stretches, with maximum daily truck traffic above 31,000. On I-5, average daily truck traffic is near 10,000, with a maximum above 35,000.
Together, the two highways represent 10% of total interstate truck traffic, DOT said.
