Boone County Zoning and Subdivision Regulation Update: Truck Parking Policy

Project Information

Facility: N/A

Location: Boone County future industrial and commercial development

Project Type: Policy

Priority Level: Tier 1

Project Description:

  • Update Boone County Zoning and Subdivision Regulations to establish a policy to include infrastructure for truck parking, staging and queueing to more efficiently and safely handle such operations on private property and minimize impacts upon public right-of-way.
  • Consider any differences manufacturing and logistics companies may have in truck parking needs.
  • Implement policy on all future industrial and commercial development in Boone County.

Cost Estimate:

  • This policy recommendation is proposed to be conducted within existing Boone County administrative budgets at no additional cost.

Benefits 

  • Reduces conflicts between trucks and passenger vehicles.
  • Reduces public noise and fume nuisances created by idling trucks.
  • Reduces safety hazards and the need for additional maintenance from the degradation of pavement, rutting of shoulders and collisions with utility and light poles created by trucks parking within the public right-of way.

Challenges:

  • Dedication of additional land/acreage to truck parking, staging and queueing may not be supported by commercial and industrial developers.

Existing Conditions

Congestion:

  • Boone County is home to major companies that serve as significant truck traffic generators.
  • During the development of the Boone County Transportation Plan authoritative, real world data was used to assist in validating verbal reports of truck parking issues and quantifying the degree of the problem to public and private stakeholders at the local, state, regional and federal levels.
  • The lack of adequate truck parking facilities to meet ever-growing demand is a critical issue in Boone County. Long term parking is needed for drivers to take their mandatory 10-hour rest periods. Short-term truck parking issues arise when drivers arrive prior to scheduled delivery/pick-up times and logistics/distribution centers do not provide for sufficient truck staging space. Public rest areas and private truck stops are filled to capacity forcing truck drivers to park in private parking lots and along public right-of-ways.
  • Continued Boone County growth in freight logistics and distribution companies will continue to add truck parking demands upon roadways in Boone County.

Safety:

  • Truck parking in private lots creates conflicts with passenger vehicles where turning radii and sufficient parking space was not designed for large tracker trailers.
  • Noise and fumes from idling trucks create a nuisance for local communities and businesses.
  • Truck parking along public right-of-ways such as interstate exit/entrance ramps and road shoulders create both safety hazards and the need for additional maintenance from the degradation of pavement, rutting of shoulders and collisions with utility and light poles.

Land Use/Socio-Economic/Environmental:

  • Boone County leads the region and state in employment growth with an additional 20,000 or more new employees projected by 2040. Many of these jobs are tied to supply logistics, distribution and manufacturing-sector companies which rely on truck access to/from their facilities.