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[jay8g]

The Peace Arch/Douglas (as the Canadian side is called) crossing isn't big enough to handle all the traffic through the area and can't really be expanded because the whole surrounding area is a park on both sides of the border (one where they generally won't hassle you if you cross the border, as long as you stay in the area between the two checkpoints and leave on the side you came from). I'm guessing they moved all commercial vehicles to the Pacific Highway crossing as a convenient way to split up the traffic by forcing commercial vehicles to use the slightly-less-convenient crossing.

[jakeroot]

I think it's also advantageous as removing trucks from the Peace Arch Park area does make the park significantly more enjoyable.

[webny99]

Thanks, that does make sense. I was aware of the nearby truck crossing, but there are plenty of similar examples of two close crossings, so that doesn't seem like a reason to ban trucks. I was also aware of the Peace Arch park, but hadn't considered the impact of the trucks or a potential expansion on the park itself.

[jakeroot]

Thanks, that does make sense. I was aware of the nearby truck crossing, but there are plenty of similar examples of two close crossings, so that doesn't seem like a reason to ban trucks. I was also aware of the Peace Arch park, but hadn't considered the impact of the trucks or a potential expansion on the park itself.

Well, even if they wanted to have trucks, there are no commercial vehicle inspection facilities at Peace Arch / Douglas.

Edit: Which, to be clear, has been a conscious decision with trucks not being allowed. But this allows for more "regular" or NEXUS lanes too, which makes sense since most cars heading to that crossing are coming up I-5 or from BC-99, both freeways. Better to give as much capacity to regular cars as possible, and let trucks detour.

[roadman65]

https://goo.gl/maps/E3bERnVy4MwbTRnLA
What is the blurred out sign supposed to be in the image on I-5 south of customs?

[jakeroot]

https://goo.gl/maps/E3bERnVy4MwbTRnLA
What is the blurred out sign supposed to be in the image on I-5 south of customs?

 

That's an art installation:

https://www.americansforthearts.org/by-program/networks-and-councils/public-art-network/public-art-year-in-review-database/non-sign-ii

[webny99]

Thanks, that does make sense. I was aware of the nearby truck crossing, but there are plenty of similar examples of two close crossings, so that doesn't seem like a reason to ban trucks. I was also aware of the Peace Arch park, but hadn't considered the impact of the trucks or a potential expansion on the park itself.

Well, even if they wanted to have trucks, there are no commercial vehicle inspection facilities at Peace Arch / Douglas.

Edit: Which, to be clear, has been a conscious decision with trucks not being allowed. But this allows for more "regular" or NEXUS lanes too, which makes sense since most cars heading to that crossing are coming up I-5 or from BC-99, both freeways. Better to give as much capacity to regular cars as possible, and let trucks detour.

Yes, that all makes sense - just interesting that trucks were seemingly allowed prior to 1970, so there must have been a clear decision to reroute all truck traffic. No doubt the standards for commercial vehicle inspection have changed since then and there's probably lot more of it now too.

[roadman65]

I believe the Duty Free Shops are at the truck entryways as well. It looks like the Peace Arch entry has no such stores.

Interesting about that crossing not having commercial vehicle checkpoints in order to keep the park clutter free of semis.

[stevashe]

Thanks, that does make sense. I was aware of the nearby truck crossing, but there are plenty of similar examples of two close crossings, so that doesn't seem like a reason to ban trucks. I was also aware of the Peace Arch park, but hadn't considered the impact of the trucks or a potential expansion on the park itself.

Well, even if they wanted to have trucks, there are no commercial vehicle inspection facilities at Peace Arch / Douglas.

Edit: Which, to be clear, has been a conscious decision with trucks not being allowed. But this allows for more "regular" or NEXUS lanes too, which makes sense since most cars heading to that crossing are coming up I-5 or from BC-99, both freeways. Better to give as much capacity to regular cars as possible, and let trucks detour.

Yes, that all makes sense - just interesting that trucks were seemingly allowed prior to 1970, so there must have been a clear decision to reroute all truck traffic. No doubt the standards for commercial vehicle inspection have changed since then and there's probably lot more of it now too.

The Wikipedia Article for WA 543/BC 15, and its sources, seem to imply that trucks were at least discouraged at Peace Arch even before 1970, as they state that before the current routing of SR543 was constructed, the truck route of US 99 "ran east–west along D Street from US 99 to the Pacific Highway border crossing" (the crossing a mile east of Peace Arch that trucks now must use). Said current routing was opened in 1970, so that may have been part of the reason for the truck ban at Peace Arch.

The main reasons as far as I can tell are the lack of space at Peace Arch to accommodate proper truck lanes and inspection areas, and the desire to separate trucks out into their own facility. Even at the Pacific Highway Crossing, the truck lanes split off and take a different route through the customs area.

Incidentally, the other end of I-5 actually has basically the same setup, where trucks are banned from the San Ysidro crossing at the end of I-5 and must use the Otay Mesa crossing to the east.

[jay8g]

WSDOT posted the RFP for the major I-5 paving project (roughly Downtown to Northgate) today, and included in that were the original ROW plans for the initial construction of I-5. These are quite interesting as they show every building that was bought out and torn down to make way for the freeway -- something that's been discussed extensively, but the way it's presented here really makes it clear just how much there used to be where I-5 is now.

[webny99]

The Wikipedia Article for WA 543/BC 15, and its sources, seem to imply that trucks were at least discouraged at Peace Arch even before 1970, as they state that before the current routing of SR543 was constructed, the truck route of US 99 "ran east–west along D Street from US 99 to the Pacific Highway border crossing" (the crossing a mile east of Peace Arch that trucks now must use). Said current routing was opened in 1970, so that may have been part of the reason for the truck ban at Peace Arch.

The main reasons as far as I can tell are the lack of space at Peace Arch to accommodate proper truck lanes and inspection areas, and the desire to separate trucks out into their own facility. Even at the Pacific Highway Crossing, the truck lanes split off and take a different route through the customs area.

Interesting, thanks for sharing. That Wikipedia article has more information than the one about the crossing itself, which gave a brief history but lacked in details. Based on that it does seem likely that trucks were discouraged from using the Peace Arch even earlier than 1970.

[jakeroot]

WSDOT posted the RFP for the major I-5 paving project (roughly Downtown to Northgate) today, and included in that were the original ROW plans for the initial construction of I-5. These are quite interesting as they show every building that was bought out and torn down to make way for the freeway -- something that's been discussed extensively, but the way it's presented here really makes it clear just how much there used to be where I-5 is now.

That is amazing. Any idea why those ROW plans were included in that RFP?

I do like the name, "SEA FWY".

[jay8g]

I don't know why, but it seems to be typical for WSDOT's design-build RFPs to include historic ROW plans like that. 

[pderocco]

WSDOT posted the RFP for the major I-5 paving project (roughly Downtown to Northgate) today, and included in that were the original ROW plans for the initial construction of I-5. These are quite interesting as they show every building that was bought out and torn down to make way for the freeway -- something that's been discussed extensively, but the way it's presented here really makes it clear just how much there used to be where I-5 is now.

Nice drawings, but too bad they didn't invent color until the late 60s.