re: Interstate lane for 18 Wheelers

Pave the medians and make the truckers use that.

I was north of Boston one time, and I was amazed what it’s like driving on an interstate with basically no 18 wheelers. It was very strange and extremely noticeable. I guess because there is no where to go other than Maine, it was one of those moments that seemed so odd as someone who drives I-12 daily.

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We'll eventually get to a point when self-driving trucks carry the majority of the loads,

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Like in the movie Logan.

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An interstate lane that runs parallel to the commuters.

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Who's gonna pay for it?

It would be pretty silly to put any real money into a project like that when we're going to have flying cars so soon.

The low iq dipshits also wait until they are about to cross a bridge or go up a steep hill to get in the left lane.

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Because Interstate construction sucks as is.

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Well if you live in Louisiana, seeing interstate construction especially if it is a widening or overlay, that is like spotting Bigfoot.

Realistically, this would only work in non urban areas where the interstate is 3 or more lanes, and in Louisiana that would account for almost no miles of interstate except for I10 between New Orleans East and Slidell.


I am warming to the idea of “express” or managed lanes where the median is ripped out for thru only traffic lanes and you pay a toll to use the new lane or lanes. By eliminating the conflict congestion points, these lanes should be free flowing. But you have to eliminate all the left exits or entrance ramps as those are in your way or would require too many lane shifts for the mainline traffic.

For example, this would be perfect for I-10 between the Airport and the 610 split. But you have left entrance ramps at Causeway and Williams.

One big choke point on the interstate around Nola is around Williams and Power where you have 4 on ramps that have to merge onto the interstate before a 3 lane bridge with no shoulders. That bridge should have been widened years ago to accommodate 5 lanes to match the interstate on the other side. A short term minimum build idea would be to merge the Williams and old airport access ramps as one entrance ramp that merges before meeting I-10. That way you can utilize more space to merge the interstate before the merge with the Power ramp.

Gordon and morris bart would never let this happen.

Side note: I do wonder what the benefit/cost would be of having to actually construct the truck lane vs how much money you would save in the long run of having to repair interstate guard rail, busted concrete on bridges, etc caused by 18 wheeler accidents… As well as the cost of having to overlay/reconstruct segments of interstate due to trucks tearing it up and rutting the pavement.
A new lane would be expensive as hell but probably way less maintenance on interstates over time. Still prob not enough to justify it.

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Or we could make it where they have to stay off of interstates unless between 10:30 pm and 6:30 am. It would be better than such a small percentage of the traffic working so hard to inconvenience the majority.

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I hated the shipping delays and empty store shelves of Covid. We would be guaranteeing those days as the norm if we cut out 2/3s of the day for shipping.