Coalition Seeks Ways to Speed I-10 Freight

Transportation officials from eight states have begun a joint effort to speed the movement of freight along Interstate 10, the nearly 2,500-mile-long freeway that stretches from Jacksonville, Fla., to Santa Monica.

With domestic freight traffic expected to grow by 85% through 2020, the coalition said, it’s imperative that a plan be developed to improve conditions on I-10 and that alternative modes of transportation be studied.

“Right now there are a lot of trucks, and we don’t know how to get them off the highways,” said Arno Hart, project manager for the National I-10 Freight Corridor Study.

Other problems with the major freight corridor include traffic congestion, truck safety and air quality, said Rose Casey, a deputy district director of planning for the California Department of Transportation.

Members of the I-10 study group have discussed reducing the crowding by shifting more freight to trains, creating truck-only lanes or even developing a separate highway system for trucks to keep them off urban stretches of the roadway.

The timeline calls for the study to be completed by 2003, in time to lobby for any major changes to be included in Congress’ next transportation appropriations bill.

“This is an issue that really should be given national priority,” said Robert Calix, a transportation planning manager with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Half of I-10 cargo that originates in Southern California eventually ends up on the East Coast, he said. “A lot of the burden borne is for the sake of the rest of the country,” he added. “We’re trying to position ourselves as a national issue.”

One voice, he said, will be more effective in promoting improvements.