Shortage of Pa. Turnpike truck parking persists
WASHINGTON — In the last 15 years, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission has added 194 parking spaces for large trucks at four service plazas, with another 63 coming to a fifth area within the next two years.
But the commission isn’t close to providing enough spaces for the increasing number of truckers who need a place to park at night.
And there isn’t room to build many more spaces at existing service plazas.
That’s the dilemma facing the Turnpike Commission as the number of trucks on the road increases and fatalities continue to rise. And it’s a problem facing other state transportation departments and toll road authorities, too.
“It seems like the only answer we’ve ever heard from folks is to build more spaces,” said Peter Kurdock, general counsel for Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety. “In the areas with the most need, building additional spots where it makes a meaningful impact may not be a reality.”
The need for more parking comes against a backdrop of an increase in fatalities in crashes involving large trucks, those defined as weighing more than 10,000 pounds. The number of deaths rose 10% during the first six months of 2022 over 2021, after increasing 13% from 2020 to 2021, according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
estimates.
Some of those crashes were blamed on tired truckers. Driver fatigue was a contributing factor in at least 13 truck crashes investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board since 2011.
The federal government limits how long truckers can be on the road, but when it’s time for them to rest, many truck stops might as well post “No Vacancy” signs. There are 11 trucks for every parking space, according to the trucking industry.
“When you don’t have safe and available parking, you invite more opportunities for crashes,” said Harry Adler, principal of the Institute for Safer Trucking.
In some of the most congested areas, there just isn’t any more land to build additional facilities near the highways that carry truck traffic coast to coast.
“There’s really no place for us to expand to,” said Charles Buchanan, roadway engineering manager for the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission. “At this point, we’re pretty much landlocked.”
The Turnpike began expanding parking at service plazas in 2008, adding 49 at North Somerset and another 49 at New Stanton.
A 2016 commission study found a shortage of almost 900 spaces, projected to climb to almost 1,150 by 2026, Mr. Buchanan said.
Since then, 77 spaces were added at the Lawn Service Plaza and 19 at Highspire, with 63 to be added at Sideling Hill by 2025.
“We’re doing everything we can to alleviate” the parking shortage, said Renee Vid Colborn, a Turnpike Commission spokeswoman.
The Turnpike continues to look at adding spaces along the toll road, said Donald Steele, its facilities engineering manager. But parking will have to compete with other projects for funding, he said.
“We’re open to looking at anything adjacent to our system,” he said.
One problem, though, is that available properties are far from existing service plazas — meaning no food, no fuel and no other amenities that truckers want when they stop for the evening, Mr. Buchanan said.
The need for more truck parking on the Turnpike also is part of an ongoing study by the state’s Transportation Advisory Committee, which is due to report by the end of the year on ways to build new facilities and identify areas where the problem is most severe.
There could be some federal funds to help pay for any construction. The U.S. House Transportation Committee last month voted to provide $755 million over three years in grants for new truck parking facilities.
In the meantime, because there aren’t enough spaces, trucks line the Turnpike shoulders and ramps in Somerset and Westmoreland Counties, according to the state Department of Transportation’s 2045 Freight Movement Plan.
To help manage truck parking, the Turnpike has been using its
electronic message signs on the eastern part of the toll road from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. to tell passing trucks whether there are spaces open, said John Parker, traffic operations supervisor. The Turnpike sends similar information to trucking apps, he said.
The system covers 10 of the Turnpike’s 17 service plazas, those to the east and on the Northeast extension. Mr. Parker said plans are in the works to extend the system westward.
Meanwhile, the shortage of truck parking spots continues.
“The truck parking shortage has been getting worse for decades and
any added capacity along the Turnpike is helpful to triage the problem in Pennsylvania,” said George O’Connor, a spokesman for the Owner- Operator Independent Drivers Association “However, large-scale investment is needed to address the national scope of the crisis and to deliver the resources to areas where the shortage is most severe. Addressing the truck parking crisis is essential for an efficient supply chain for Pennsylvania and for America.”