Quote:
Originally Posted by Fozzy
Seems rather hostile.. I've been driving now for practically 30 years and without trying to be a snide or demean someone else.. can say that it was posted and it was common practice.. but it was well before there were so many discourteous, asshats driving trucks came along. Cutting new lanes into mountains would cost billions.. allowing the use of the shoulder for heavy vehicles is not dangerous at all... if there were professionals out there anymore.
|
Yes, I do appear to be hostile; This is my rant! Yes, it is a common practice(maybe even 50/50). I don't want to impede another trucker, but I am going to maintain my lane position that I believe is safe.
I do believe it will be expensive to build much needed truck climbing lanes in this area of the Interstate, but billions is an exaggeration. The money could have come from the failed study to replace the Interstate Bridge(s) over the Columbia River or the wasted highway dollars supporting TriMet/MAX in the Portland Area.
It may not have been a dangerous practice to use the shoulders many years ago when Oregon(and California) wasn't so populated. The truck and car traffic has greatly increased over the years(I have been running this road for 20+) as this is a major transportation corridor between all the cities on the West Coast from Los Angeles to British Columbia. As noted in web document above from ODOT, the emergency breakdown lane was not designed as travel lane for heavy trucks. The shoulder's pavement and base thickness is less than the travel lanes which requires additional maintenance(from the heavy trucks).