Midwestern states push for truck-only lanes

With truck traffic rising, at least nine states are considering proposals to separate big rigs from cars on heavily traveled interstate highways, hoping to reduce congestion, improve safety and increase commerce by moving goods faster.

Ohio, Nevada and other states are exploring whether to build or designate truck-only lanes on various stretches of interstate highways, though they’re not yet sure how they would pay for them. Tolls are one option; public-private partnerships another.

Proposals for truck-only lanes are cropping up because freight being carried by trucks is expected to skyrocket at a time when population and passenger traffic continue to increase.

Some truckers question the wisdom of truck-only lanes. And many oppose having to pay tolls for special lanes without being given the option of using non-toll routes.

Travel on the nation’s highways has nearly doubled since 1980, but the highway system has expanded by about 3 percent. There are 2.9 million large trucks traveling U.S. highways, up from 2.6 million in 2000
and that figure is expected to increase by 75,000 each year, according to the American Trucking Association.

Indiana, Ohio, Illinois and Missouri are suggesting a truck-only lane on a 789-mile stretch of Interstate 70.

The I-70 corridor rolls through or by Kansas City, St. Louis, Indianapolis and Columbus and is within 25 miles of six major international airports and air-cargo hubs. The highway teems with trucks because of the high concentration of manufacturing, retail and other industries nearby. Much of the I-70 corridor is expected to reach or exceed capacity by 2030.

A proposal to improve Inter-state 10, a 2,650-mile highway that runs from Florida to Califor-nia crossing eight states, identifies several areas that could become truck-only bypass highways. They include Phoenix and Houston.

Financing is a sticking point.

Trucking pays 43 percent of the annual $35 billion in user fees for federal highways, according to the trucking associations. Truckers also pay a federal diesel fuel tax of 24.4 cents a gallon, a 12 percent excise tax on new trucks, an annual vehicle-use tax and a tax on tires.

Some motorists say truck-only lanes are a good idea for safety reasons alone.

In 2005, 442,000 large trucks were involved in crashes – 309,000 of them with other vehicles and 4,932 of them fatal, the most since 2000. However, the number of people killed in large-truck crashes is expected to be down 3.7 percent in 2006, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.