Arizona plans to restrict all trucks to the right lane of Interstate 10 in a 20-mile stretch between Casa Grande and Phoenix.
It’s billed as a way to improve safety. But the head of the Arizona Trucking Association, Anthony Bradley, says the plan is nothing short of stupid.
And he scoffed at the Arizona Department of Transportation’s claim it “coordinated’’ the plan with his organization.
The idea stems from accidents along the 20-mile stretch that has yet to be widened to three lanes in each direction, says ADOT spokesman Garin Groff.
Heavy vehicles were involved in about 20% of crashes in that corridor and 15% of rear-end and sideswipe accidents, the department says. And when there are accidents, the interstate can end up being closed to everyone.
“This is an attempt to try to reduce the number of heavy truck-related incidents in the area,’’ Groff said.
Bradley, however, said that’s making a presumption the truckers were at fault.
“We let them know that a lot of those accidents were probably the fault of the speeding cars that are traveling recklessly throughout that corridor,’’ he said. “Moving all the trucks to the right-hand lane doesn’t solve that problem.’’
He has another concern. The slowest vehicle in the right lane sets the pace for everyone behind. So a truck following someone towing a motorhome at 45 mph — where the speed limit is set at 75 — has no choice but to play follow-the-leader for the entire 20-mile stretch. And everyone behind is slowed to the same crawl.
This isn’t a short-term issue.
Signs are already going up informing truckers of the restrictions, which will empower Department of Public Safety officers to ticket errant drivers under a section of law that makes it illegal not to obey traffic signs.
ADOT says the signs will remain up until additional lanes are added in each direction. But the target for completing the construction isn’t until sometime in 2026, even though lawmakers approved a $400 million infusion this year to speed up the work.
In a news release, ADOT said it worked to coordinate the plan with the Arizona Trucking Association. But Bradley said that’s overstating the input his organization got in the decision.
“’Coordinate’ is probably the wrong term,’’ he said. “They informed us of their decision. We informed them of, frankly, the stupidity of the decision.’’
Bradley also said ADOT rejected ideas that would minimize the impact on truck traffic, and to deal with the backups that could result.
“We had asked that, if they were going to do it, that they create some space for us to have passing ability,’’ short breaks in that 20-mile stretch where a truck could legally get around a slow-moving vehicle, he said.
He said his organization also suggested reducing the trucks-in-right-lane-only stretch to something less than 20 miles.
“They listened to us and obviously are doing what they believe they need to do,’’ Bradley said, chiding the department for its decision.
He said he foresees other complicating factors in the ADOT decision that actually could make the traffic and safety situation even worse.
“You’re going to have passenger vehicles in the left-hand lane holding up people,’’ as the trucks occupy the right lane, he said.
“People are going to get frustrated,’’ Bradley continued. “They’re going to have no place to go, and they’re going to continue to cause accidents.’’
Groff said ADOT “will be monitoring the situation if there are unintended consequences.’’
“And we’ll make adjustments if needed,’’ he said.
