Harrisburg, PA — The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has opened 339 new truck parking spaces at 24 locations throughout the state.
PennDot Secretary Mike Carroll described the lack of available truck parking as a “nationwide issue” in an October press release announcing plans to create more than 1,200 truck parking spaces in 133 locations statewide by the end of this year.
A Jan. 28 PennDot release calls the project the “first statewide expansion of designated parking spaces other than through facility construction projects.”
Spaces will be added at:
- Interstate on-ramps with no sight distance or safety concerns.
- Weigh stations used for Pennsylvania State Police motor carrier safety enforcement.
- Various other locations within highway right of way.
“This is a commonsense approach to enhance safety,” Carroll said in the latest release, “and the department is looking at ways to add even more spaces.”
The Federal Highway Administration says fatigued truck drivers who struggle to find parking spaces may elect to continue on the road or seek unsafe parking locations such as the shoulder of the road, exit ramps or vacant lots.
PennDOT has published an online map that displays existing, completed and planned truck parking locations.
