An Ode to an Albertan Parking Lot

Dave Elniski, AMTA Industry Advisor, Safety & Compliance

In 2019, in those pre-COVID “before times”, folks were talking about the construction of additional commercial and public safety rest stops in Alberta [1] – at least those involved in Alberta’s trucking industry, anyways, and the many commuters who were frequenting Highway 2 between Calgary and Edmonton.

Alberta was executing earlier plans by constructing numerous additional rest areas throughout the province, and for Central Alberta, the rest stop at the junction of Highways 42 and 2 had become a highly-visible example of just such a stop [2].  Known as a Partnership Rest Stop, this site is an example of a Government-industry partnership meant to produce additional truck and car parking along major travel corridors at minimal cost to the province [3].

I have visited the site twice: once while driving a commercial tractor-trailer, and the second time when on a road trip with my family.  I’m going to describe these visits, but before I do, let me spoil the ending – my experiences have all been positive.  Sometimes, even if it seems cheesy, I believe it is important to take the time to appreciate the good things around us, so some infrastructure-related praise will be the subject of this article.

My First Visit

Gratitude can be cultivated through effort, but when visiting the Junction 42 Partnership Rest Stop, no effort was required on my part to be grateful for the service the rest stop provides.

It isn’t easy to find a parking spot for a big truck.  I remember the first time I truly became aware of the rest stop’s existence.  It was at the end of a long trucking day.  I had been filling in for an owner-operator suffering from truck problems and I was in need of a place to stop.  The big sign indicating the available spots and the distance to the exit was a warm sight for my heavy eyes.

Having, right in front of me, a real-time truck parking aid appear in the dark seemed too good to be real.  I hadn’t yet fallen victim to a mirage while driving, but maybe this was the first.  But when I made the exit and swung wide into the expansive lot, I felt extremely grateful for the efforts of those to provide me with a safe place to park that night.

By that time in my trucking career, I was accustomed to signs saying I couldn’t park in a given location.  Seeing the modern parking lot and on-road real-time remaining spots sign felt, to me, like my home province really cared about my well-being and safety that night.

Sometimes trucking can feel like a thankless job, and in other parts of the world like congested coastal corridors, parking is difficult to find.  In some crowded areas I frequented, my personal policy was to start looking for a place to park for the night when I had at least one hour of available time on my clock.  And sometimes a full hour wasn’t enough.

I’m not the only fan of Alberta’s Partnerships Rest Stops, either.  Investments like this in our truck-friendly infrastructure are appreciated by all the drivers and carriers I have ever spoken to about the subject.  Even though the restaurants weren’t open yet at the time of my first visit to one of the stops in a big truck, the generously-sized parking lot accessible immediately from a major truck route provided a much-needed service to a trucker in need of rest.

My Second Visit

By the time the Junction 42 Partnership Rest Stop was open, I was not routinely on the road since I had taken a position in safety and only occasionally drove to maintain a basic understanding of the routine job duties.  So my second visit to this rest stop was in the summer of 2021 when I stopped with my family en route to a family function.

Being both a father and someone who has witnessed traumatic on-road collisions has made me very selective in where I will stop for a break when driving.  As we made our way along Highway 2 with the kids expressing their desire to empty one tank and fill another, I once again saw the friendly rest stop sign and decided to stop there for food, fuel, and flushes.

The first thing that impressed me was the deliberate segregation of commercial and personal vehicles.  Small vehicles like minivans and cars were directed to a separate fueling island with parking close to the restaurants; big trucks and motorhomes instead use the larger commercial parking lot.  When people are walking around and everyone is marching to the beat of their own itinerary, it is best to control and separate traffic as much as possible.

I was then impressed with the services available to everyone.  Washrooms were spacious and clean.  Food options were reasonably plentiful.  And despite being busy, the lot was large enough to not feel crowded.  This made for a pleasant, restful stop with minimal impacts to our timeline.

When people work hard behind the scenes to produce programs, infrastructure, and services that benefit the public, we need to take the time to be grateful.  A highway rest stop will likely not become the highlight of a road trip – regardless of how modern and spacious the stop may be.  However, rest stops that are unremarkable are actually quite remarkable.  Having access to a facility when you need it and without it sticking out in your mind because of problems means that it did its job: it provided a safe stop without needlessly impacting your trip.

For those who understand the challenges to drivers seen in other parts of the world, things like a simple rest stop can be quite memorable indeed.  I have a long list of things to be grateful for, and safe places to park are on it.

References

1 – “Leadership Roundtable”, Winter 2019, Western Canada Highway News, accessed November 8th, 2021, http://highwaynews.ca/index.php/articles/feature-stories/2019/winter-2019/575-leadership-roundtable

2 – “Junction 42 highway rest area hits 100,000 visitors”, Red Deer Advocate, October 28th, 2020, accessed November 8th, 2021, https://www.reddeeradvocate.com/news/junction-42-highway-rest-area-hits-100000-visitors/

3 – Steel, P.H.A., et al.  2017. Investing in Highway Commercial Development: An Introduction to Alberta’s Commercial Safety Rest Area Project.  From the 2017 Conference of the Transportation Association of Canada at St. Johns, Newfoundland and Labrador.  Accessed November 9th, 2021, from https://www.tac-atc.ca/sites/default/files/conf_papers/steelp_-_investing_in_highway_commercial_development_an_intro._to_albertas_commercial.pdf