I-95 Safety Concerns Spur Calls for Better Infrastructure

Safety concerns along Interstate 95 are drawing attention to several transportation challenges, including insufficient parking for commercial truck drivers, traffic accidents and infrastructure that separates communities. Reports from Georgia, Florida and Connecticut describe different problems associated with the highway, from dangerous roadside stops to neighborhood connectivity and roadway safety.

In Coastal Georgia, recent serious crashes have renewed calls for additional truck parking. In Jacksonville, Florida, two separate crashes temporarily blocked northbound lanes near Philips Highway on Thursday night, while Norwalk, Connecticut, is developing a plan to address the long-term effects of I-95 on local neighborhoods.

According to a Georgia State Patrol incident report cited by WTOC, a fatal crash in Liberty County began when a tractor-trailer driver pulled onto the shoulder for a restroom break. The driver told troopers she was climbing back into her seat when she felt the collision.

The incident, alongside two other recent serious crashes in McIntosh County, has highlighted the risks faced by truck drivers who struggle to find authorized places to stop along the busy freight corridor.

Dan Murray, senior vice president of the American Transportation Research Institute, said the organization has identified truck parking as the leading concern for drivers in four of its past five annual surveys.

Research by the institute found that drivers spend an average of 56 minutes daily searching for authorized parking, costing them approximately $7,200 annually in lost pay. Murray described the highway's freight traffic and limited parking capacity as major contributors to the problem.

"I-95 is the most congested freight corridor in the country," Murray said. "There are very few legal authorized options for parking. So trucks are forced to park on shoulders and ramps."

Lewie Pugh, executive director of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association and a driver since 1994, estimated that the country has approximately one safe parking space for every 11 trucks on the road.

Pugh said drivers approaching the end of their permitted driving hours can find rest areas and truck stops full, leaving them to search farther along the highway or stop somewhere unsafe.

"You got an hour or two left on your logs. You come to a truck stop or rest area," Pugh said.

He described how the shortage can force drivers to continue searching even as their available driving time expires.

"You drive through there. There's nowhere to park. So your only option is to get back on the highway and try to go farther to the next stop ...

And then what eventually happens is you don't find anything, you run out of time. So you end up having to park somewhere unsafe."

Pugh said congestion and parking shortages are particularly serious near ports, warehouses and urban areas along I-95 between Miami and Maine. He also said a proposed truck stop in the Savannah area was abandoned following local opposition several years ago.

"We can't have it both ways. We cannot have stocked store shelves and the goods and the products we want and not have trucks," Pugh said.

Long-haul driver Luis Alfonso, who travels between Florida, New Jersey and Wisconsin, said northbound Georgia has particularly limited overnight stopping options between Jacksonville and Savannah. He contrasted the situation with South Carolina and North Carolina, where he said rest areas are available approximately every 40 miles.

"It's a lot of accidents because we don't have a place to park," Alfonso said. "At the end of the day, when you stop, you almost die. Mentally, you know?"

Alfonso said drivers risk parking citations or towing when they use retail parking lots, while stopping on highway shoulders can result in citations from law enforcement.

The Georgia Department of Public Safety's Commercial Vehicle Enforcement division said it patrols illegal parking locations, informs drivers about restrictions and alternatives, and uses message-board trailers to discourage unauthorized stops. The agency also allows overnight truck parking at inspection stations to accommodate overflow.

"Providing drivers with safer places to stop and take required rest breaks is an important part of protecting both commercial vehicle drivers and other motorists," the agency said.

At the federal level, a proposed $755 million truck parking grant program included in highway funding legislation would provide competitive grants for additional parking capacity. Murray said his institute is also working under contract with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration on a calculator to help state transportation departments evaluate the return on investment of truck parking expansion projects.

In Jacksonville, the Florida Highway Patrol told News4JAX that two crashes involving four vehicles closed at least two northbound lanes of I-95 near Philips Highway on Thursday night. No injuries were reported, and one vehicle struck a large tree that fell across three lanes.

Crews removed the tree, allowing traffic to begin clearing around 10 p.m., although two lanes remained blocked at that time.

Farther north, Norwalk's Redevelopment Agency is developing a Reconnecting Communities Project to address the effects of I-95 on Wall Street and South Norwalk, neighborhoods separated by the highway's construction in the 1950s.

Mayor Barbara Smyth described the division at a Tuesday community meeting at South Norwalk Library.

"We're one community, but we've got this highway that's cut us in half," Smyth said.

The project combines a $600,000 federal grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Neighborhood Access and Equity Program with $150,000 from the city's capital funds. Its study area extends from Dr. Martin Luther King Drive to West Avenue, reaching Belden Avenue and including the Crescent Street area.

Agency Executive Director Brian Bidolli said the planning process will assess the highway's effects and involve residents in identifying potential improvements.

"What we want to do is basically examine what have been the impacts, what can we do to sort of address those impacts, and then have a community conversation to sort of collaboratively identify potential solutions," Bidolli said.

Community planner Carly Kramer said the highway had supported employment and economic opportunities but had also contributed to traffic congestion, roadway safety problems, and air and noise pollution.

"It did lead to automobile traffic issues in traffic congestion, roadway safety issues, air and noise pollution," Kramer said. "So those are all things that we're trying to mitigate through this project."

Traffic engineer Michael Morehouse of consulting firm IMEG identified missing sidewalks and crosswalks, long stretches without adequate crossing points, a lack of bike lanes and crash-prone locations among the area's infrastructure concerns.

South Norwalk resident Kenneth Aviles said people using West Avenue and Crescent Street often face a choice between taking a potentially dangerous route or choosing a safer alternative that may make them late for work.

"Are you going to risk the rather dangerous road conditions there walking down West Avenue to be on time, or you're going to take to a much safer corridor, which is Crescent Street, and be late? We need to pay attention to both corridors," Aviles said.

South Norwalk resident Katy Lockhart proposed improving pedestrian crossings along the Norwalk River Valley Trail to strengthen connections between neighborhoods and destinations including the library and Wall Street.

"You can go so many places, like behind all of the traffic, that it just seems like that could be bulked up a little bit and get some better pedestrian crossings and really like, focus on that existing path that's there," Lockhart said. "I think that would be a huge benefit because you can get up to the library, you can get to Wall Street, you can go down to the other side of the river."

Morehouse said private property owners would need to participate in discussions about strengthening the trail connection before the proposal could advance.

"I think that that's such a potentially strong connection. It's hard to see this plan going forward without something there that really strengthens that, so that's something we definitely want to look at," Morehouse said.

Cranbury resident April Wennerstrom welcomed the city's initiative at the community meeting.

"I think this is a great start," Wennerstrom said. "The best part about Norwalk is the diversity of each mini community within our great city. So this is a great project."