The Traffic Problem on America's Highways

As Americans, we have grown accustomed to the presence of large cargo trucks, or eighteen-wheelers, on our highways. Certainly these vehicles must travel efficiently from one location to the next to pick up or deliver cargo, but it is really necessary to have them jammed in with the rest of the traffic? I doubt if anyone would really mind if suddenly we didn't have to deal with maneuvering around the lumbering behemoths on a daily basis. These trucks are large and restrictive to the traffic flow to say the least, but their presence is felt much more under bad weather conditions.

When roads are wet and slippery and you find yourself following or attempting to pass an eighteen-wheeler that is trailing a wall of rain runoff, you quickly realize what a nuisance they can be. Again, shouldn't we ask ourselves if there is a better way? I would like to outline a proposal for a small, separate lane paralleling existing roadways, utilizing existing bridges, etc., which will partition the flow of passenger-vehicle traffic from the flow of large-truck traffic. This lane will be used by large trucks only, and offers a solution for traffic problems and accidents involving commercial transport vehicles, as well as a solution for delivering cargo more quickly using large trucks. The benefits of this lane are as follows:

*Increased Safety for Passenger-Vehicle Traffic
*Quicker Cargo Delivery
*Convenience and Safety for Truck Drivers

The plan will utilize a concrete barrier to completely separate the lane from the shoulder of the existing roadway. One lane will be constructed on either side of the existing highway to completely divide the flow of commercial traffic, and will resemble a feeder road on either side of the highway that never actually merges with the main roadway. The plan is applicable to all existing thoroughfares and will drastically reduce major traffic accidents and shorten delivery time for roadway-transported cargo.