The Parking Zone – December 2021/January 2022
With a massive infrastructure bill finally signed into law, professional drivers can only hope that state departments of transportation use some of the grant money from the bill for truck parking. However, the private sector has thrived on the fact that this is unlikely.
That was apparent in the weeks, months and even years leading up to this moment. Below is just a sample of what the private sector, and a few governments, were doing (or attempting to do) about truck parking just before the infrastructure bill was approved by Congress.
Tennessee funding additional truck parking
Not all local and state governments are ignoring the truck parking crisis. Take Tennessee, for example. The state department of transportation is moving along with its four-year Interstate 65 widening project by awarding a $160 million contract, the largest financial transaction in TDOT history, according to The Tennessean. Somehow, TDOT managed to throw in additional truck parking with that money. Specifically, the project includes converting a northbound and southbound weigh station into a truck parking area.
Converting weigh stations to truck parking areas is relatively inexpensive. A state DOT can easily sneak that into any big-ticket project without hardly anyone noticing.
QuikTrip, better known as a gas station and convenience store, was considering building a new location in Vicksburg, Miss., with at least some truck parking. According to The Vicksburg Post, not anymore. The city has been critical of QuikTrip’s variance request mostly because the plans accommodate trucks, including fueling stations and weigh stations.
QuikTrip says the location wouldn’t be a traditional truck stop, referring to the plans as a travel plaza geared toward local short-haul. Regardless, city government resistance led QuikTrip to pull the variance request. As of press time, it was not known whether or not QuikTrip would resubmit the request or just concede to the local government.
Meanwhile in Oklahoma City, QuikTrip had much better luck at around the same time as the Vicksburg failure. KOKH-TV is reporting that despite rumors of nearby truck stops conspiring to keep QuikTrip out of Oklahoma City, the Tulsa, Okla.-based gas station chain will in fact be setting up shop in the OKC metro area. To be located off of Interstate 35 and Hefner Road, the plans for the new location have nearly 100 total parking spaces, 10 of which will be truck parking spaces. It is not a lot, but it is 10 more truck parking spaces than Vicksburg is getting.
Thriving Colorado town discusses truck parking
City planners in Monument, Colo., have a problem they probably do not mind having: How to deal with significant economic growth. When considering industrial land use, city leaders have trucks in mind, according to The Tribune. With industrial growth comes more truck traffic. Fortunately, one of the aspects of a thriving town being considered by the city’s planning director is truck parking, including overnight parking and what kind of land use would accommodate a truck stop.
It doesn’t sound like much, but not planning is why we’re in this truck parking crisis in the first place.
Sturgis considering more truck parking
Before you get too excited, no, it’s not that Sturgis. Rather, city officials in Sturgis, Mich., are considering more truck parking. Specifically, the planning commission approved of a plan that includes a distribution center truck parking area and truck staging area. It’s a relatively small project (it’s only slightly more populated than Sturgis, S.D., after all), but this is still a local government accommodating truckers.
No truck stop for Effingham County, Ga.
Some of you are probably aware of the truck stop situation in Effingham County, Ga. Days before an Effingham County Planning Board meeting discussing a proposed Love’s truck stop, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association sent out a Call to Action to eastern Georgia members, urging them to attend the meeting and voice their support for the project.
Sadly, the NIMBYs won this battle.
Ultimately, the board voted unanimously to not move forward with proposal. Had the board sided with Love’s, that could have meant 45 additional truck parking spaces off of Interstate 16 in Georgia. WJCL-TV is reporting at least one resident claimed trash and prostitution are at every truck stop. The only thing stakeholders can do about misinformed perceptions like that is educational outreach. Then again, people tend to be stuck in their ways.
Trucking service project in Gary, Ind.
Lastly, one Gary Common Council member got the ball rolling for some undefined truck parking project. The council approved of a zoning change requested for “a future trucking service-related business,” according to the Chicago Tribune. The only specific given is that the project is related to trucking and involves parking. However, at least one other councilmember tried to put the vote to a halt.
Council member Cozey Weatherspoon said he wanted more information before voting, suggesting it be moved to a later date. Council member Linda Barnes-Caldwell pointed out that she hosted the developer in a community forum and invited the council to ask all the questions they want. LL