A lengthy, billion-dollar project to
improve Interstate 80 the primary
link between the distribution centers
of northern Nevada and the population
centers of northern California
presents a big safety challenge to
truck drivers. But the work doesn't
appear to have resulted in extensive
delays or significantly higher costs for
the transportation industry in northern
Nevada.
Caltrans, the agency responsible
for California's highways, two years
ago began an extensive reconstruction
program along Interstate 80 from the
Nevada border to Sacramento.
This summer, the biggest part of
that work has come with an $86 million
project on the stretch of I-80
between Truckee and the state border,
and Caltrans at times this summer
warned of hour-long delays. Most
recently, Caltrans cautioned that
drivers could face 30-minute delays.
The delays aren't a big deal for
drivers of Reno's Central Freight
Lines Inc., where half the firm's 26
drivers regularly cross the Sierra
between Nevada and the Bay area.
Terminal Manager Edward Maciel
said, however, the drivers have a
heightened awareness of safety as
they travel along narrow lanes
through construction zones.
He noted, for instance, that drivers
try to keep two truck lengths
between themselves and other vehicles
a yardstick that becomes difficult
in congested construction
zones where automobile drivers dart
into openings in traffic. "With products
on board, we've got 100,000
pounds on the road. You can't stop
on a dime," Maciel said. Central
Freight, he said, spends extra time at
its Monday evening safety meetings
to review the challenges presented
by I-80 travel.
A spokesman for a trucking group
said, meanwhile, that drivers are patient
with the construction in the summer
because they want a safe and improved
highway over Donner Summit during
the treacherous winter months.
"If they don't repave the highway in
the summertime, you get holes in the
wintertime that you could bury a cow
in," said Ray Roach, assistant managing
director of the Nevada Motor
Transport Association.
The drivers will need to be patient
for the better part of four more years.
Caltrans estimates its contractors
will complete the reconstruction of I-80
by 2006 assuming funds remain
available. Cost of the entire project
is projected to push $1 billion.
The highway was completed over
Donner Summit in 1964.When it was
built, the life of its pavement was projected
to be 20 years. The reconstruction
project began 36 years after the
road was completed.
