The Department of Transportation awarded over $30 million to transportation projects to create 210 new truck parking spaces and three new rest areas across Ohio and Wisconsin.
The funding is part of a massive award distribution through the Infrastructure for Rebuilding America program. The latest FY 2025-2026 INFRA awards distributed $2.6 billion to 36 transportation projects.
An Ohio truck parking expansion project will repurpose two closed rest areas as new truck parking facilities. The new facilities would add 100 truck parking spaces on Interstate 70 near New Paris and 38 on I-80 near Hubbard. The project received about $18 million in INFRA funding.
The funded project for Wisconsin adds rest areas and truck parking expansions to I-43 in Manitowoc County. The project will replace the Rest Area 51 Maribel and Rest Area 52 Denmark facilities, making way for a new rest area building, maintenance garage, and parking lots for automobiles and trucks. The project would increase truck parking capacity by 72 stalls. The project received $12 million in INFRA funding.
A project to widen I-80 in Nevada will also create 50 new truck parking spots. That project received about $276 million in INFRA funding.
Industry associations applaud funding
The American Trucking Associations and Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association quickly commended the latest funding announcement.
“The chronic lack of truck parking poses a danger to the public, impedes the efficiency of our supply chain, and harms truckers’ wellbeing. We appreciate Secretary Buttigieg’s commitment to addressing this serious issue by supporting the decisions of Ohio, Wisconsin, and Nevada to embed truck parking projects in their transportation plans,” ATA president and CEO Chris Spear said. “When drivers finish their shift, they deserve to know that they will be able to find a safe place to sleep that night. Congress can be a part of the solution by building on this investment and voting to pass the $200 million for truck parking included in this year’s appropriations bill.”
See also: House spending bill funds truck parking, bars speed limiter mandates
"Lack of safe truck parking has been a top concern of truckers for decades and as a truck driver, I can tell you firsthand that when truckers don’t have a safe place to park, we are put in a no-win situation. We must either continue to drive while fatigued or out of legal driving time or park in an undesignated and unsafe location like the side of the road or abandoned lot. It forces truck drivers to make a choice between safety and following federal Hours-of-Service rules,” Todd Spencer, OOIDA president, said. “OOIDA and the 150,000 small-business truckers we represent thank Secretary Buttigieg and the Department for their increased focus on resolving an issue that has plagued our industry for decades.”
