No cars allowed: Georgia considers highway just for trucks

ATLANTA — Georgia transportation officials are exploring the idea of a separate highway for trucks only.

John Hibbard, the Georgia Department of Transportation's operations director, said it would be the first highway of its kind in the United States.

WABE Radio reports that the toll-free highway would stretch 40 miles from metro Atlanta to Macon.

State transportation officials say they expect truck traffic to double by 2040. The truck-only lanes have been proposed as a solution to reducing congestion for drivers of noncommercial vehicles on Georgia interstates.

Gov. Nathan Deal praised the truck-only highway during a recent Georgia Transportation Alliance meeting, calling it "an important part of what our future transportation system should and will look like."

The radio station reports that the project's estimated cost of $1.8 billion is raising eyebrows.