Twin Cities Home to 4 of Nation's Worst Bottlenecks: Study

The American Transportation Research Institute released its annual list highlighting the most congested bottlenecks for trucks in America this week, including four in Minnesota. The 2017 Top Truck Bottleneck List assesses the level of truck-oriented congestion at 250 locations on the national highway system.

"Minnesota is home to 17 Fortune 500 companies, making it a major freight generator and player in the nation's economy," said Minnesota Trucking Association President John Hausladen in a news release.

"ATRI's analysis allows us to target state and federal resources to keep trucks, and the economy, moving."

The four bottlenecks in Minnesota, all located in the Twin Cities, are:

• No. 45 – I-35W at I-94
• No. 55 – I-35W at I-494
• No. 71 – I-35W at I-694
• No. 88 – I-35E at I-94

The analysis, based on truck GPS data from more than 600,000 heavy duty trucks uses several customized software applications and analysis methods, along with terabytes of data from trucking operations to produce a congestion impact ranking for each location.

"Trucks move 70 percent of the nation's goods, so knowing where our highway system is most congested can lead to better decisions about what highways and bridges need improvement," said American Trucking Associations President Chris Spear, "and it is our hope that ATRI's research will guide states toward improving these pain points in the supply chain so our industry can continue to safely and efficiently moving the nation's goods."

For access to the full report, including detailed information on each of the 100 top congested locations, click here.

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