Roadway Designs with Truckers in Mind

Signage. Often truck instructions are on a smaller, unnoticable sign amongst other collaborations of giant advertisements, highway markers and exit signs. Trying to see the lane restriction signs coming into Atlanta is like trying to find Waldo; many drivers have to be told on CB they're in the high-dollar lane.
I always thought the truck signs should have all been a special color, to be noticed.

 

I stopped at the Flying J in Emporia, Kansas yesterday. I was headed southbound, 335 to 35 south. That was the most f- uped on and off ramps ever.
Go up there, check it out and don't do it like that.

 

Wide shoulders are a blessing, they can't be too big for my taste. One little thing that I am irked by in some cities is a road that will make a slight jog left or right and usually back again, even if it only 10 or so feet. If you have ever seen these spots after a fresh snow and before plowing you will notice that no one ever takes that jog unless they can see the lines on the road. Snow is only the most obvious time that you notice it, but the situation is the same in any kind of reduced visibility. Tapering the shoulder to eliminate that little "wiggle" would be another benefit of wide shoulders in the planning stage. Especially in snow country, you can see the proper line of corners when the roadway is hidden due to snow, fog or rain. The curves are more gentle and sweeping, using the shoulder and sometimes crossing the white line by half a truck width.

 

I don't have much to add but there are a few road designs I've seen that I would reccomend avoiding.
The right lane turning into an exit lane is a plan for an accident. In heavy traffic it's not always easy to find the signage giving advance warning that a through driver is going to have to change lanes.
One that always seems backward. "Trucks use right lane". In most areas where this is posted, the trucks are through traffic, shouldn't the through traffic be AWAY from the exiting and merging traffic? Again, to me, this is encouraging accidents. A good example of this is in Chicago. Trucks are not allowed in the express lanes. Instead, they are forced to use the "local lanes" that run outside the express lanes and traffic exits and merges from BOTH sides!
Hills can't all be reduced to gentle grades and "truck lanes" are a good way to keep traffic flowing while letting the heavily laden trucks hammer their way up the grade. But that lane should be the same right lane. Adding a lane should be done by adding a fast lane on the left, and ending that lane PAST the top of the grade. Most truck lanes I've seen end to soon. Just at or even before the top of the grade, forcing the truck, now moving at it's slowest, to try and merge back into a lane that's moving much much faster. If the added lane were on the left, the slow moving vehicles wouldn't have to merge at all, rather, the merging traffic would all be moving at nearly the same speed. Much safer, and, in actuality, much less merging needed at all as the slow moving vehicles need not change lanes at all.

 

do something about the color of the roadway nothing like driving on brand new black asphalt in the pouring rain and not able to the strippings on the roadway...its like driving BLIND....

 

Ok so if over 102" is oversized, I have another question. How wide can a tractor trailer combination be? I ask this because are 14' lanes going to be able to accommodate these loads. I realize they are not the norm but would just 2 extra feet in a "normal" lane be enough?

Also whats the max GVW a truck can be? Is it something like 80,000lbs? I don't know where I got that number, just a shot.

Thanks everyone for the comments!

 

Trucks with loads over 102" and 80K lbs are a matter of permitting. However wide a road is, there are loads out there that will take as much of it as someone will give and a bit more. During my very limited time hauling oversize loads I once took a 15' 8" load over an 18' wide truss bridge. I would have paid dearly for another 6 inches for comfort. Every little bit helps. With the same company, we drove over county roads that had 10' wide lanes. It feels like your walking a tight rope!

 

I dont have a problem with lane width, makes little difference to me there. Accelleration and decelleration ramps longer would be helpful. I disagree with truck lanes as a concept, lane control should have meore to do with safe speed being traveled, around Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Attention to banking of the corners is more important than the radius, but balance the radius and camber for the given speed traveled on that highway. Also problem area as far as paving, broken pavement from heavy loads, modularize those road section simular to bridge spans, they would or could be stronger and changed out quickly with pre-made sections.

Shoulder of roadways, should be wide enought for the largest normally non-permitted vehicle to stop at least 10' from the traveled part of the roadway. This protects all.

Use of High visability lane markers, that should be clearly seen at sunrise and sunset, rain snow etc...

 

Yes lane markers highly visible in any weather. Ive seen somewhere about solar powered little lane markers that light a dim light at night which would be awesome for inclement weather and those really dark nights. But im sure it would be to expensive. Better signage is a mush, reflective lettering for night time. Wide shoulders are a must for safety, like us280 I think, runs you from I35 to waterloo in iowa the hammer lane side has to shoulder. The line on the left side is right on the edge of the road and theres about a 6 inch drop so one slip or wind gust your dropping on the gravel and now look like a fool cause your trying to pull your tire back up on the road and your trailers swinging. Exceleration and exit ramps need to be adequate for speeding up and slowing down for big trucks. This is a big reason Idont like texas cause the majority of them exit you right into a frontage road and you cant see worth a crap some of them are 10 to 20 mph exits with no exit lane so your mashing the brakes in the travel lane just asking for someone to hit you. Also the on ramps are more like a 2 foot hole in the side of the interstate throwing you into traffic going 30, yeah real safe there texas. I just wish the planning of these roads and interstates would take trucks into consideration.

 

Like Texas loop is, lots of access road so people don't have to get on the main. Long on and off ramps with better signage, including Interstate road #s in the pavement well beforr the exit ramps . Signs that say get you stupid ##### out of this lane NOW!!!!