Florida Gradual to Reply to Truck Parking Want Alongside I-4

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The Florida Division of Transportation plans to start out development on a brand new truck relaxation space with 132 areas close to Interstate 4 in Sanford simply south of the Volusia County line.

However that received’t occur till 2026, and the remaining space received’t open till 2027. And it illustrates the challenges truckers face find secure locations to park their large rigs in Central Florida.

Lack of truck parking “is a matter nationally,” mentioned Mark Trebitz, a DOT mission supervisor, at a latest Seminole County fee assembly. “And it’s particularly a difficulty in our area right here.”

A 2018 DOT research confirmed 481 extra truck areas are wanted within the Central Florida area due to the growing variety of large rig vehicles on the highways. By the 12 months 2040, the demand will escalate to 883 parking areas.

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At the moment, as much as 20,000 semi-trucks journey on the I-4 hall between Daytona Seashore and Tampa each day, in keeping with DOT.

In line with federal legal guidelines, longhaul truckers should cease to relaxation for 10 consecutive hours after driving 11 hours inside a 14-hour span.

“Drowsy drivers, it’s not secure for them to be on the roads,” Trebitz mentioned. “It’s not secure for the remainder of the touring public.”

DOT’s aim is to construct at the very least one new truck cease website in every of Osceola, Orange, Seminole and Volusia counties by 2040, in keeping with latest plans.

The brand new Seminole truck cease website in Sanford will sit on roughly 19 acres simply east of I-4, tucked between Orange Boulevard and College Avenue.

At an estimated whole value of about $60 million — together with the land buy — the ability will embody restrooms, a canine stroll space, electrical automobile charging stations, and a fringe sidewalk for exercising.

DOT is pursuing federal infrastructure grants to assist pay for the prices of constructing Seminole’s and different relaxation areas alongside I-4 within the neighboring counties. Seminole commissioners this week agreed to ship a letter to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg urging his company to approve the state’s grant utility.

“This mission has been on the books for fairly a while,” Commissioner Bob Dallari mentioned in regards to the new truck relaxation space. “This has truly been mentioned on this county for at the very least 25 years, that I’m conscious of.”

We’re placing our residents within the path of managing truck stops for the complete I-4 hall … Seminole can’t resolve the [truck] downside for the complete area.

Seminole County Commissioner Andria Herr

However Commissioner Andria Herr referred to as it “extraordinarily regarding” that the state company continues to be years away from constructing different relaxation services for weary truckers alongside I-4 within the neighboring counties.

“If these will not be progressing to the identical diploma on the fee that ours [in Seminole] is progressing, we’re placing our residents within the path of managing truck stops for the complete I-4 hall,” she mentioned. “That span between constructing these can’t be a long time. … Seminole can’t resolve the [truck] downside for the complete area.”

The opposite truck relaxation spots that DOT is contemplating close to I-4 embody:

• In Orange County, 20 acres off Sand Lake Street at John Younger Parkway, which would offer 109 areas.
• In Osceola County, 40 acres simply south of State Street 532, close to the CSX Railroad tracks, which would offer as much as 234 parking areas.
• In Volusia County, 73 acres alongside eastbound I-4 in Port Orange, which would offer 275 areas, and 117 acres alongside westbound I-4 in Daytona Seashore close to the Tiger Bay State Forest, which would offer 253 areas.

These 4 websites are at the moment being studied, and it’s possible not till the 12 months 2040 that development would start, if ever, officers mentioned.

Vans and drivers relaxation up on the Longwood, Fla., relaxation space alongside westbound I-4. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel through Tribune Information Company)

On Aug. 16, trucker Eduard Guiterrez was on the point of head again on I-4 after pulling into the westbound relaxation space in Longwood the night time earlier than. He began his journey close to Little Rock, Ark., and was hauling varied merchandise on his semi-truck to Fort Myers.

He thought-about himself fortunate to have discovered an empty house alongside I-4. In years previous, truckers would usually park alongside the shoulder of Longwood relaxation space’s entrance, till state officers planted dozens of “No Parking” indicators alongside the roadway a number of years in the past.

“This freeway is the worst. Everyone is aware of it’s actually unhealthy to discover a parking spot right here,” he mentioned. If he can’t discover a spot, Guiterrez will park at a Walmart or different enterprise with a big parking zone that enables truckers.

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“I hope they do one thing quickly,” he mentioned about DOT’s plans to construct new relaxation areas.

Commissioner Jay Zembower mentioned non-public industrial truck stops — reminiscent of Pilot or Love’s — alongside main interstate highways ought to construct comparable services that provide extra facilities, reminiscent of eating places and showers, at a sooner tempo and extra effectively than a state DOT relaxation space. He hopes these firms contemplate constructing alongside the I-4 hall between Volusia and Osceola counties.

“That may be implausible,” Zembower mentioned.

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