Proposal for Truck-Only Lanes Gets Rolling

Truckers get no respect.

They deliver more than half the nation’s freight, and how do we show our appreciation? We cut in front of their big rigs at 60 mph in our little Hondas and Toyotas. We try to merge into a convoy of 80,000-pound behemoths, expecting them to make an opening while we sip Big Gulps and chat on cell phones.

We blissfully cruise in their blind spots, hoping that the flapping Lakers flag sticking out of our side window will catch their eye. And when they try to merge into our lane, we curse them as if they had just insulted our mothers.

“It would help a lot if we had some extra lanes,” long-haul trucker Octavio Astorga said from atop his idling 18-wheeler, carrying a load of appliances out of City of Industry.

He and other truckers may get those lanes, at least on a few stretches of Southern California’s freeways.

A coalition of local government agencies is pressing state and federal agencies to build a series of truck-only lanes to serve the burgeoning truck traffic that is hauling goods from ports to inland markets.

The Southern California Assn. of Governments, or SCAG, recently completed a preliminary plan to build the first phase of the system: four truck lanes (two in each direction) on a 37-mile stretch of the Pomona Freeway from downtown Los Angeles to Ontario.

Eventually, SCAG would like to add truck lanes to the Long Beach and the Ontario freeways and to Interstate 395 in the high desert.

The lanes are offered not as a show of respect, but out of necessity. Truck traffic is expected to double by 2020 because of increased cargo coming from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Transportation experts warn that Southland freeways can’t handle the extra load without some major upgrades.

As it is, average freeway speeds at rush hour in Southern California are about 35 mph. That is expected to drop to 20 mph by 2025, even if transportation planners expand the region’s rail lines and carpool lanes.

Why start with the Pomona Freeway? It is one of the most heavily used truck routes in Southern California, carrying an average of nearly 13,000 big rigs per day. By 2020, traffic engineers predict that the Pomona Freeway will be carrying more than 46,000 trucks per day.

The SCAG preliminary study shows that if the truck lanes are added, truckers will be able to cruise at about the 65 mph speed limit--a feat unheard of in most of Southern California. The rest of the traffic will have the same number of lanes--five in most stretches--and should be able to move more freely.

The exclusive truck lanes also are expected to reduce accidents, by giving all vehicles more room to maneuver. Truck accidents in California were blamed for 412 deaths in 114 crashes last year, compared with 395 deaths in 97 such accidents in 1999, according to the California Highway Patrol.

“We strongly feel that by separating the truck traffic from the faster-moving car traffic, accidents would be reduced,” said Naresh Amatya, a senior transportation planner at SCAG.

Under the plan, the truck lanes would run along the right shoulder of the Pomona Freeway, with separate exits and onramps. On at least three sections of the freeway, where land for extra lanes is not available, truckers would drive on elevated lanes, like those on the Harbor Freeway near downtown Los Angeles.

The main problem with the plan? Coming up with the $4 billion for planning and construction. SCAG officials are drafting grant proposals, hoping the federal government will spring for the work. The regional planning agency is offering to pay the money back by charging a toll for truckers who use the lanes. Officials have yet to calculate the fee, which would probably be collected at booths along the freeway.

The California Truckers Assn., which represents 2,500 trucking companies, likes the concept but is holding off on giving its full endorsement until the final details are released. Warren Hoemann, spokesman for the association, said he wants to know what the plan will cost.

“What are we talking about for an actual toll?” he asked.

Truckers interviewed at rest stops and eateries along the Pomona Freeway also liked the idea, but most said they wanted to be sure that they wouldn’t have to share the lanes with four-wheel motorists.

“Sounds good, if you can keep the cars out of it,” Brian Coutler, a Georgia native and a truck driver for 19 years, said as he idled his big rig near a Motel 6 just off the Pomona Freeway.

His biggest gripe, he said, is motorists who speed in the fast lane and swerve across four lanes of traffic at the last minute to make it to an offramp.

“Everyone is not using their heads on the road,” he said as he shifted in his seat and pushed back his camouflage hunting cap.

Henry Brumfield, who has been hauling groceries for 16 years around the San Gabriel Valley, also supports the truck lane concept, but only if it includes police enforcement to keep other traffic out.

“On the onramps, cars ride along the shoulder and try to squeeze in front of us,” he complained. “We don’t see these little cars.”

Bob Wood, a retired police officer from Tucson who became a trucker 11 years ago, shares many of those concerns. He said he also worries about cars swerving through the truck lanes to get off the freeway.

“I think it’s a wonderful idea, but it depends on the placement,” he said as he puffed a cigar during a stopover at a Carl’s Jr. parking lot in City of Industry.

He complained that four-wheeled vehicles drive too close and stop too quickly in front of big rigs, assuming a truck hauling 30 tons can stop on a dime.

The bottom line, said Wood, is that many motorists don’t show enough respect for truckers.

“You have to have trucks,” he said, taking another puff from his stubby stogie. “There is no getting around it.”

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