How to Make Highways Run Smoother

We published this article on another website and thought we would summarize it here so those that follow this blog could read it. When it comes to driving on the highway it seems that even when you leave the city you run into bottlenecks along your route. Out enjoying the open road headed to a new destination. And then it happens. Traffic slows out in the middle of nowhere.

Most of these bottle necks have to do with the large number of trucks that use America's highway system to deliver goods. We need these trucks to move freight across the country. Trucks seem to accelerate slower and certainly have a hard time climbing hills that have even the slightest grade, so a remedy would make travels for the motoring public more efficient.

Some believe it would even make highways safer. The bottom line is everyone wants to get around the trucks. Even trucks want to get around trucks some times. Here are a few things that can help to increase roadway efficiency.

A big help would be if highway spending bills included more passing lanes and climbing lanes. These would help to alleviate traffic backups on highways. This can be especially helpful in areas were climbing is necessary like the Sierra Nevada and and Rocky Mountain regions. Both an empty and a fully loaded tractor-trailer can have a hard time continuing at freeway speeds when they encounter almost any substantial increase in grade.

Passing lanes can act as an auxiliary lane on a two-lane highway. These are very helpful in areas where the traffic volume doesn't require a multi-lane highway. Having a lane for this purpose can give small vehicles the opportunity to pass semi tractor-trailers safely. Many times small vehicles pass trucks illegally when there is no passing lane. This often times ends in an accident.

Climbing lanes are also especially helpful. These lanes are constructed on multi-lane highways and help divert traffic around slow moving vehicles. This is also especially helpful in creating a safer and more efficient highway system.

Hopefully after reading this you can see how roadway efficiency can be increased by the addition of passing lanes and climbing lanes to highways in your state. Some day you may need to vote on a highway spending bill and we hope you can see how spending on these types of projects can help everyone who uses Americas highway system.

Here is a link to the Department of Transportation if you want to keep up on what they are doing with highway planning and other programs.