Florida officials are banning trucks from the left lane of a 40-mile stretch of the Florida Turnpike in South Florida starting Friday, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported.
The restriction will ban trucks from the left lane on a 40-mile stretch of the toll road between the Golden Glades interchange in Miami-Dade County and the Lantana toll plaza west of Lake Worth, Fla., the paper said.
Crews are posting 30 black-and-white signs that read “No Trucks Left Lane” along the 40-mile stretch, the paper said.
Some truckers said the restrictions will create bigger problems for all drivers, and official with the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association said the rules will create more congestion and cause more vehicles to tailgate and pass in an unsafe manner, the Sun-Sentinel reported.
Turnpike officials say they are imposing the new rules to promote safety and keep slower-moving trucks in the right two lanes, the paper said.
Studies at Florida International University and the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering have concluded that truck lane bans reduce the number of lane changes without affecting speed.
