Duluth-Superior Truck Route Study

An efficient system of local and through truck routes is essential to the success of all communities—especially in the case of Duluth, Minnesota and Superior, Wisconsin, home to the farthest inland seaport in North America. Direct and safe truck connections to the arterial system can both improve network compatibility with adjacent land uses and minimize costs for shippers investing in the community. This study developed a process that brought together area stakeholders to perform an in-depth analysis for the improvement of the area’s truck route system. Planning activities conducted in this study included the formation of an advisory committee, a survey of local trucking firms and drivers, an area-wide truck accident analysis, and a turning movement analysis for a major truck route intersection. Special consideration was given to truck route signage, regional policies and ordinances, and the accommodation of oversized loads that originate from the Duluth-Superior port. Recommendations from this study focused on improvements to the urban truck route system and included: adding routes currently utilized by trucks to the official route system; adding a neighborhood bypass route to an industrial area; maintaining consistency of truck route signs between jurisdictions; establishing a formalized through truck route; and establishing a route to get “super loads” from the port to the perimeter of the urban area. The methodologies and research techniques used can be adapted to any area seeking to improve its local truck routes for the benefit of the region.

• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • McDonald, Andy
• Conference:
  • Eighth National Conference on Transportation Planning for Small and Medium-Sized Communities
  • Location: Cincinnatti OH, United States
  • Date: 2002-9-18 to 2002-9-20
• Publication Date: 2002

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: CD-ROM
• Pagination: 12p
• Monograph Title: Eighth National Conference on Transportation Planning for Small and Medium-Sized Communities, September 18-20, 2002, Cincinnati, Ohio

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Arterial highways; Bypasses; Committees; Crash analysis; Improvements; Industrial areas; Ordinances; Oversize loads; Policy; Regions; Route signs; Surveys; Transportation planning; Truck crashes; Truck drivers; Truck routes; Trucking; Urban areas
• Geographic Terms: Duluth (Minnesota); Superior (Wisconsin)
• Subject Areas: Freight Transportation; Highways; Law; Motor Carriers; Planning and Forecasting; Policy; Safety and Human Factors; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01045164
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Mar 30 2007 7:02AM