I-80 work raises safety worries for truckers

A lengthy, billion-dollar project to

improve Interstate 80 the primary

link between the distribution centers

of northern Nevada and the population

centers of northern California

presents a big safety challenge to

truck drivers. But the work doesn't

appear to have resulted in extensive

delays or significantly higher costs for

the transportation industry in northern

Nevada.

Caltrans, the agency responsible

for California's highways, two years

ago began an extensive reconstruction

program along Interstate 80 from the

Nevada border to Sacramento.

This summer, the biggest part of

that work has come with an $86 million

project on the stretch of I-80

between Truckee and the state border,

and Caltrans at times this summer

warned of hour-long delays. Most

recently, Caltrans cautioned that

drivers could face 30-minute delays.

The delays aren't a big deal for

drivers of Reno's Central Freight

Lines Inc., where half the firm's 26

drivers regularly cross the Sierra

between Nevada and the Bay area.

Terminal Manager Edward Maciel

said, however, the drivers have a

heightened awareness of safety as

they travel along narrow lanes

through construction zones.

He noted, for instance, that drivers

try to keep two truck lengths

between themselves and other vehicles

a yardstick that becomes difficult

in congested construction

zones where automobile drivers dart

into openings in traffic. "With products

on board, we've got 100,000

pounds on the road. You can't stop

on a dime," Maciel said. Central

Freight, he said, spends extra time at

its Monday evening safety meetings

to review the challenges presented

by I-80 travel.

A spokesman for a trucking group

said, meanwhile, that drivers are patient

with the construction in the summer

because they want a safe and improved

highway over Donner Summit during

the treacherous winter months.

"If they don't repave the highway in

the summertime, you get holes in the

wintertime that you could bury a cow

in," said Ray Roach, assistant managing

director of the Nevada Motor

Transport Association.

The drivers will need to be patient

for the better part of four more years.

Caltrans estimates its contractors

will complete the reconstruction of I-80

by 2006 assuming funds remain

available. Cost of the entire project

is projected to push $1 billion.

The highway was completed over

Donner Summit in 1964.When it was

built, the life of its pavement was projected

to be 20 years. The reconstruction

project began 36 years after the

road was completed.