Abstract

There are two main objectives of the Freight Movement and Intermodal Access in Kentucky Study (SPR 98-189) that is being undertaken by the Kentucky Transportation Center for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC): 1) evaluation of the access for trucks between intermodal or other truck generating sites and the National Highway System (NHS); and 2) furthering the understanding of freight commodity flows throughout the state. This report is slightly different from the others that summarize the access evaluation to a particular cluster of existing facilities. This route provides access to Edmonson county from the Western Kentucky Parkway (in Grayson county) and from I-65 (in Warren county) as shown on Figure 1. This route is not currently used by many trucks. Edmonson county was recommended for study by the Division of Transportation Planning of the KYTC due to the lack of 102 inch wide truck access. There is also a gross weight limit of 62,000 lbs on the entire route. The route is located in the Barren River Area Development District and is in KYTC Highway District #3. Work on other specific sites as well as the freight commodity flow task of SPR 98-189 are on-going and are documented elsewhere.

Most of the sites to be evaluated in this project were selected from two existing databases (a truck facility survey from 1994 and the intermodal facility inventory) based on ADD and KYTC planner recommendations, geographic location, distance to the National Highway System, and the number of trucks accessing the site. Consideration was also made for the freight type handled and transportation modes used. As indicated above these issues were not considered here as the county was recommended for study based on the lack of truck access.

The site was visited several times for data collection and video recording as listed in Appendix A. No facilities that might currently generate significant truck traffic were observed. Large numbers of trucks were noted near the interchange with I-65 due to truck stops. The access to these sites was deemed good. The area surrounding the route is generally rural although it travels through several small towns and also Brownsville which is a larger community. The phone survey which was conducted for other truck routes under evaluation was not conducted here due to the lack of current facilities. In the other cases studied during this project, the largest truck currently using the route was considered for evaluation of features such as off-tracking, grade, and turning radii. In this case, these trucks do not necessarily use this route, but access for a 48 foot tracker trailer was evaluated.

Report Date

9-1998

Report Number

KTC-98-32

Digital Object Identifier

http://dx.doi.org/10.13023/KTC.RR.1998.32

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