New truck scales on I-80 in northern CA to open soon

A state-of-the-art modern truck scale facility on eastbound Interstate 80 near Vacaville, CA, will open the week of July 22. State officials said the $97.9 million project will make truck weight checks along the highway a much smoother process.

“The new facility will help the (California Highway Patrol) carry out our mission of saving lives, and improve our ability to inspect trucks and protect our roads for many years to come,” said CHP Commander Mike Ferrell in a report in the Vacaville Reporter. “Although the facility may seem large and have a lot of technology, it was designed with truck traffic estimates for the year 2035 in mind.”

The project moved the old eastbound Cordelia Truck Scales, built in 1958, to a new building. Once truck traffic is routed through the new scales, demolition of the old scales will begin and should be completed by fall.

Additionally, the project included the building of a two-lane bridge across Suisun Creek and has a ramp from the new facility to eastbound I-80 and eastbound Highway 12.

The wider off-ramp separates the trucks going into the scales from other motorists. Cars merging onto Highway 12 will go over the scales and then merge with the trucks going in the same direction farther down the road.

The trucks returning to I-80 will travel under the Highway 12 traffic and merge onto I-80.

I-80 is a major truck route between the Port of Oakland and the northern half of the country, and truck traffic is expected to double during the next 35 years. Existing traffic reaches 125,000 trucks per month, 400 trucks during peak hours. The CHP performs 23,000 inspections per year at the location.

“This facility is leaps and bounds better than the one it replaced,” California Department of Transportation District 4 Director Bijan Sartipi said. “It’s a big step forward and it sets the bar for other truck stops in California and the nation.”