Chicago is Site of Two Leading Truck Bottlenecks in the US
According to the Federal Highway Administration, 3 of the 10 most congested truck corridors in the US are located in Chicago. Ranking number one on the list is the Circle Interchange, which is the downtown junction located between Eisenhower Expressway and the Kennedy and Dan Ryan Expressways. The average speed in this junction is 30 mp but traffic can slow to as low as about 23 mph during rush hour.
The Kennedy Expressway junction with the Edens Expressway, located on Chicago’s North Side, is number two on the list. Average rush hour speed is 23 mph, with an average non-rush hour speed of 39 mph even though the speed limit in this corridor is 55 mph.
Dan Ryan Expressway where it joins up with the Bishop Ford Freeway takes the number 9 spot. Average speed clocked in is about 50 mph during non-rush hours, 47 mph overall all, and 38 mph during busy travel periods.
The I-290 at Interstate Highway 355 in Chicago’s western suburbs is number 67 on the list, while Interstate Highway 80/94, in the Chicago-Northwest Indiana corridor, is listed as the 85th most congested truck bottleneck in the US.
This information, provided by the Federal Highway Administration and American Transportation Research Institute, will hopefully help trucking companies do a better job of figuring out their delivery routes and schedules so that they can avoid having to go through the busiest corridors during their peak hours. However, not only are truck drivers responsible for getting their cargo to its destination in a timely manner but also, he/she must drive to the current driving conditions to avoid causing a Chicago truck accident, which can occur if a large truck follows too closely behind the vehicle in front of it, fails to slow down when traffic starts to back up, or attempts to talk on the cell phone or text while driving.
Unfortunately, there are truck drivers who fail to obey traffic laws or go with the flow of traffic. When this happens, pedestrians and the occupants of other vehicles are the ones that suffer the most.
Chicago has top 2 truck bottlenecks in nation, study finds, Chicago Tribune, May 26, 2010
Related Web Resources:
Federal Highway Administration
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