The Texas Department of Transportation has opened the state’s first mechanical runaway truck ramp, a safety system on Loop 375 in El Paso designed to stop big rigs that lose their brakes. According to a July 14 TxDOT news release, the ramp opened July 1 along westbound Loop 375, known as Transmountain Road, near the Interstate 10 interchange.
The agency said the system is the first of its kind in Texas and offers a stopping option for trucks experiencing brake failure on the mountain highway. Unlike traditional gravel ramps built into mountainsides, the new installation sits in the roadway median, a design TxDOT said was necessary because of the narrow space available near I-10.
“Unlike other runaway truck ramps on Transmountain, this truck arresting system was constructed in the median due to the narrow footprint available at that location,” said TxDOT El Paso District Engineer Tomas Trevino in the release. “It detains vehicles in tight roadway geometry, such as the area closer to I-10.”
The mechanical system is engineered to stop a 90,000-pound truck traveling 90 mph using a series of eight energy-absorbing net stations bolted into reinforced concrete walls, according to the agency. After each use, it can be reset in as little as four hours.
Project designer Michael Beecen, of Beecen, Brackin and Associates, said similar net-based systems exist in Wyoming, Utah and Nevada but are typically built on mountainsides. “This is probably the most unique trap that we’ve designed,” he said in the release. “It being the first mechanical system installed in Texas, but it is in a median and we have never done a median application. This is the first of its kind in the nation.”
The El Paso area has seen several runaway truck incidents in recent years, TxDOT said. While the ramp was built with semis in mind, it is open to all vehicle types, and the agency encouraged drivers who need it to stay centered on the ramp for the best results.
The mechanical ramp is the fourth runaway ramp on Loop 375, joining three existing gravel ramps — one westbound and two eastbound, according to the release. TxDOT said it has also added enhanced permanent signage warning drivers of the existing ramps in both directions.