Evaluating the Effectiveness of Various Truck Lane Restriction Practices in Florida--Phase II. Volume 3 - Evaluation of Truck Lane Restriction on Non-Limited Access Urban Arterials

The commodity pick-up and delivery activities in urban areas have led to an increase in truck traffic on urban roadways raising safety and operational concerns. A number of strategies for managing trucks have primarily been implemented on interstate highways. The perceived success of truck lane restriction on freeways has led to increasing demands from the public for highway agencies to institute similar measures on non-limited access arterial streets. The review of State statutes, policies, and practices have so far revealed that five States - Alabama, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, and New Jersey - have roadway sections on non-limited access highways with truck lane restriction. However, the literature search revealed that the efficacy of truck lane restrictions on non-limited access highways has not been thoroughly studied. The objective of this study was therefore to evaluate the influence of various geometric, traffic, and signalization factors that might affect the effectiveness of truck lane restrictions on non-limited access highways, primarily urban arterial roadways with a significant amount of truck traffic. VISSIM simulation software was used to evaluate operational and safety effects of a truck lane restriction by varying parameters related to the restriction. A 5-mile section of SR 70 in Fort Pierce, Florida was selected for simulation analysis. A network consisting of 22 roadway sections with 121 signalized intersections was simulated. The results of various simulation scenarios showed that restricting trucks to the right lane does not have deleterious effects compared to no restriction. In fact, restricting trucks to the right lane could improve travel speed on the highway corridor, although not by much. However, restricting trucks to the left lane or to the center lane would cause excessive lane changing, reduced travel speed, increased queue lengths, and increased stopped delay. The imposition of a truck lane restriction increases the speed difference between cars and trucks and also increases lane changing maneuvers. This phenomenon is likely to increase vehicular conflicts in real life but the extent to which these operational and safety implications may apply needs to be studied in the field.