The truck parking part of the Improve I-70 project is advancing.
Contractor KCI, with designer Bartlett and West, has been selected for the $30-plus million investment in truck parking along Interstate 70 in Missouri.
Truck parking at rest areas in Concordia, Boonville, Mineola and Wright City is being expanded as part of this project.
According to the Missouri Department of Transportation, more than 10,000 trucks travel I-70 daily. During peak hours, public truck parking areas on I-70 are over capacity, and 75% of the nearly 2,000 privately owned truck parking spaces are also over capacity.
Safe off-highway parking reduces the cost of shoulder and guardrail repairs on interstate ramps caused by truck parking and removes trucks from active traffic, MoDOT said.
“This project is an excellent example of MoDOT’s innovative delivery of this historic investment in infrastructure,” Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission Chairman Warren Erdman said. “Through federal grant funds, this project will improve existing locations and expand the availability of truck parking locations along this critical freight corridor.”
A total of 255 truck parking spaces will be added across these locations, increasing the total available parking spaces along the I-70 corridor to more than 500.
The restroom facilities at the Wright City and Concordia rest areas will be remodeled and lighting at all four locations is being upgraded.
“We are proud to continue our partnership with MoDOT and look forward to delivering another impactful improvement to Missouri’s I-70 corridor,” KCI Vice President of Transportation Brian Mulhall said.
Construction is scheduled to begin this fall and last through late 2028, MoDOT said.
OOIDA quantifies truck parking benefits
In comments filed supporting the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s truck parking survey, OOIDA reiterated that parking has been the top safety concern for American truckers for over a decade.
“The need to increase substantive investment in truck parking capacity is long overdue and must be a priority for the U.S. Department of Transportation as well as federal, state and local lawmakers,” the Association wrote. LL
More Land Line coverage of truck parking.
Credit: Source link
