It was all the way back in April when the DOT quietly decided to remove a highway from the National Truck Network and ban all heavy truck use, and now that the public comment period is over, the ban will likely go into effect with few truckers even aware of it.
The highway in question is Kentucky Route 151 which truckers often use as a shortcut connecting I-64 and US 127, but according to authorities, the highway just isn’t large enough to safely accommodate large vehicles.
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) says that the ban occurred after officials noted how high the single-vehicle crash rating was for the road. About half of all accidents on KY 151 between 2010 and 2015 were single vehicle “ran off roadway” accidents and there were six times more single-vehicle truck and bus accidents on the route than on a wider highway nearby.
Residents say truckers should be happy for the new rule. According to the Lexington Herald Leader when they petitioned for the truck ban to be put in place, residents claimed that truck traffic on the road “creates a clear and present danger to the safety of the community in Alton,” and that if “direct and swift action is not taken to avert heavy truck traffic in this area, a life-altering tragedy will occur.”
Citing those safety concerns, the FHWA has decided to approve the emergency deletion of the KY 151 from the National Truck Network.
Source: overdrive, statejournal, wlky, kentucky
This is mostly BS, of course some accidents will occur, the main reason is “the public” they do not want the truck traffic just as they did in the 90’s to NJ 15 and routes in PA. Another partial reason could be that KY doesn’t want to maintain the Highway could it be that some of those accidents are related to poor road conditions.
Like a degrading shoulder.
Ohio did it. US-24 between Ft Wayne and Toledo. That road was in terrible shape, so their solution was to make a nice multi-lane bypass route. Now commerce moves smoothly through there.
Good for them they just to sorry to go little farther
I could live with that if I was down there. Too many drivers are in too much of a hurry anyway. Seriously, pay a guy by the trip or mile and he’s going to go fast. If the dot seriously wanted to do anything about truck safety they would simply enforce that all drivers in the us get payed hourly and payed overtime. Problem solved on all roads in the USA.
Hourly pay would be great, but these large corporations are pulling the strings not us.
You don t know how the economy wors,do you? You don t know how our government is supposed to work either… so what do you know? Are you even american?
4 extra miles? You guys wrote a article for 4 extra miles? Some of these driver are ignorant a 110 wide truck doesn’t fit on all roads. I can see if there were a delivery on the road but I doubt a company operates off that road.
with the elds that could be possible to be paid by the hour.
Did they ever think to widen the road? Just sayin…
Really…I see where trucks run off of four lane interstates on a regular basis, let’s ban truck traffic on those roadways too.
Most of that stretch of road has NO SHOULDER. I wouldn’t want to drive that road in a truck and I wouldn’t want to face on oncoming truck on that road if I were in a car. IMO, it’s a good decision.
You bought your houses on the cheap because it’s next to a main road, then you create a committee to stop the heavy traffic ( The reason why your homes were cheap ) Fine, don’t want to drive through your town anyway. But now you can pay to maintain that road. Let’s raise those cheap property taxes you enjoy and we can use my hard earned trucker federal and state road tax money on those roads I’m allowed to drive on. Just like those people who build houses next to highways and then put up signs stating no engine brakes “city ordnance ” yet there’s a 6 % grade I have to roll down. You don’t like trucks??, you don’t like the noise?? Build your crack houses farther from the road.
Sounds like they need to widen the road, but I guess they just see this as an opportunity to generate revenue by tickets instead.
Well, I guess they’re just going to have to move Florida Tile Inc. National Distribution Center (just off Hwy 151) to another town. ($300m+ annual revenue, 1,000+ employees)
I’m sure that F.T.I. is the primary source of income for Alton/Lawrenceburg, KY. But hey, if they don’t want trucks there, then I guess they shouldn’t have them, including the ones that deliver the product that keeps their town alive, or the tax revenue from companies that ship products by truck.
All those fuel tax dollars and they can’t widen a road?