The Connecticut Department of Transportation is launching a $31 million project to increase truck parking statewide.
The department will expand truck parking at five locations across the state. The lack of truck parking has been deemed a “national safety concern” by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
The project’s first phase is underway at the Middletown rest area on Interstate 91 northbound. It will have an additional 11 parking spaces, the department said in an announcement about the project. The Middletown phase, scheduled to be completed in September, will cost more than $3 million and includes upgraded drainage and stormwater management.
“During the COVID-19 pandemic, we heard truckers loud and clear when they called for more places to safely park along state highways,” Connecticut DOT Commissioner Garrett Eucalitto said in the announcement. “We are excited to begin these projects to improve safety for the trucking community, who keep our economy moving.”
The department plans to add more than 180 new parking spaces in Middletown, Madison, Southington, Southbury and Vernon by the end of the decade. Last year, the department published a truck parking survey assessing the issue, including current inventory and projected needed.
The American Trucking Associations reports that 98% of truck drivers have been forced to decide between parking in unsafe locations or violating federal hours-of-service regulations. The problem routinely ranks high on the list of issues drivers face.
The lack of truck parking also leads to a pay cut for drivers, who on average spend 56 minutes every day searching for parking, which amounts to $5,600 a year, according to the ATA.
“The scarcity of truck parking spaces across the country decreases safety for all highway users, exacerbates the [industry’s] longstanding workforce challenges, diminishes trucking productivity, and results in unnecessary greenhouse gas emissions,” Motor Transport Association of CT President John Blair said in the announcement.
The demand for truck parking is only expected to get worse as more freight is moved by trucks. Trucks will be responsible for moving 2.4 billion more tons of freight over the next decade than they do today, the ATA said. The projected e-commerce growth will contribute to increased truck loads, John McAvoy, administrator for the Federal Highway Administration’s Connecticut Division, said in the announcement.
Connecticut’s freight transportation system supports more than 451,000 jobs and produces $50.5 billion annually in gross regional product.
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