One of the impacts of the proposed Utah inland port that has not received adequate attention is the road and bridge damage caused by heavy trucks.
It has been known for decades that highway damage grows exponentially with increased vehicle weight. A 1979 study by the U.S. General Accounting Office reported, “a tractor-trailer has the same impact on an interstate highway as at least 9,600 automobiles.” Doing the math, this translates to heavy trucks causing more than 99% of vehicle-caused road damage, while paying only 35% of highway maintenance costs.
Apparently, the state Legislature expects the residents of Utah to subsidize the inland port through time lost to increased congestion, through higher health care costs due to more air pollution, and through higher taxes needed to repair highway damage caused by significantly increased heavy truck traffic.
We all recognize that our society is dependent on some level of cargo transport by trucks, but we should not be promoting dramatically increased truck traffic on our highways. This does not benefit the people of Utah.
Jim Harris, Payson
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