Section 40. Criteria for reviewing requested through truck restrictions

Travel by any class of vehicle should be restricted only upon demonstration that the restriction will promote the health, safety and welfare of the citizens of the Commonwealth without creating an undue hardship on any users of the transportation network. The Virginia Department of Transportation will consider the criteria in subdivisions 1 through 4 of this section in reviewing a requested through truck restriction. The proposed restriction must meet both the first and second criteria in order to be approved:

1. Reasonable alternate routing is provided. The alternate route will be evaluated for traffic and safety related impacts. To be considered "reasonable," the alternate route or routes must be engineered to a standard sufficient for truck travel, and must be judged at least as appropriate for truck traffic as the requested truck restriction route. If an alternate route must be upgraded, the improvement shall be completed before the truck restriction can be implemented. The termini of the proposed restriction must be identical to the alternate routing to allow a time and distance comparison to be conducted between the two routings. Also, the alternate routing must not create an undue hardship for trucks in reaching their destination.

2. The character or frequency, or both, of the truck traffic on the route proposed for restriction is not compatible with the affected area. Evaluation will include safety issues, accident history, engineering of the roadway, vehicle composition, and other traffic engineering related issues.

In addition to meeting the first two criteria listed above, the proposed restriction must meet either the third or the fourth criteria listed below in order to be approved.

3. The roadway is residential in nature. Typically, the roadway will be judged to be residential if there are at least 12 dwellings combined on both sides within 150 feet of the existing or proposed roadway center line per 1,000 feet of roadway.

4. The roadway must be functionally classified as either a local or collector.

Failure to satisfy criteria in subdivisions 1 and 2, and either criteria in subdivision 3 or 4 will normally result in rejection of the requested restriction.

The Commonwealth Transportation Board, from time to time as appropriate and when deemed necessary, may modify or revise any provisions or criteria contained in these guidelines.

Historical Notes

Derived from Volume 20, Issue 05, eff. October 28, 2003.

Statutory Authority

§ 33.2-210 of the Code of Virginia.