DATE: January 28, 1998
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBJECT: RESTRICTING UNSAFE TRUCKS ON STATE ROUTE 94
SUMMARY: Recommendation(s):
2. Direct the Chief Administrative Officer to draft a letter for the Chairman's signature to the California Highway Patrol (CHP) asking the CHP to enforce the new thirty-eight foot kingpin-to-rear axle limit once it is established by CalTrans.
Fiscal Impact: Background:
At the same time, the amount of traffic along State Route 94 continues to increase. The number of commercial trucks entering the United States through the Tecate Port of Entry has increased seventy percent from a level of 26,828 vehicles in 1996 to 45,973 this year. Traffic statistics for State Route 94 show that there have been 160 vehicle accidents on this road over the last two years. It is also worth noting that in the ten accidents involving trucks along this roadway in the past two years, the truck was at fault ninety percent of the time.
CalTrans has proposed several safety improvement projects along State Route 94 including the construction of passing lanes and the realignment of curves. Since these proposals, which require environmental review and may take one or more years to complete, do not address immediate safety concerns along State Route 94, short-term measures to improve the safety of the travelling public is critical.
Section 35401(e) of the California Vehicle Code authorizes CalTrans to administratively install regulatory signage limiting the kingpin-to-rear axle length of tractor-semitrailer combination vehicles to thirty-eight feet if the Director determines that a roadway would be unsafe for longer vehicles. The Director has already determined that sections of State Route 94 are unsafe for vehicles longer than thirty-eight feet. Today's action would ask CalTrans to enact the maximum thirty-eight foot limit allowable under State law until the Director determines that State Route 94 is safe for longer vehicles.
Respectfully Submitted,
DIANNE JACOB
Should the Board of Supervisors ask the California Department of Transportation to limit the size of trucks traveling on State Route 94 to a maximum length of thirty-eight feet as currently allowed under State law?
SUPERVISOR JACOB:
1. Direct the Chief Administrative Officer to draft a letter for the Chairman's signature to the California Department of Transportation (CalTrans) requesting CalTrans to limit the size of trucks traveling on State Route 94 between Jamacha Junction and Interstate 8 to a maximum kingpin-to-rear axle length of thirty-eight feet until the Director of CalTrans determines that the road is safe for vehicles longer than thirty-eight feet.
If approved, this request will result in no additional costs or staff years.
State Route 94 between Jamacha Junction and Interstate 8 is a two-lane roadway traversing rural East County. The road is currently posted with yellow and black warning signs advising drivers that the road is not recommended for tractor-semitrailer combination vehicles longer than thirty feet. Since the signs are only advisory, few drivers adhere to these warnings and the California Highway Patrol has no authority to prevent vehicles longer than thirty-eight feet from traveling on State Route 94.
Supervisor, Second District
