Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Bids Accepted for Weighing System : Transportation: State officials say the high-tech device will monitor wear and tear on the Golden State Freeway. Truckers fear more traffic citations.

CASTAIC —  Caltrans has accepted bids for a Weigh In Motion system in Castaic along the Golden State Freeway that would do just what it sounds like: weigh trucks without having them pull onto scales.

But what California transportation officials say is a high-tech device for monitoring wear and tear on state roads, area truckers call a prelude to more traffic citations.

The California Department of Transportation accepted bids last week for the installation of a $200,000 Weigh In Motion system on the Golden State Freeway. Officials said they hope to award the contract by the end of August.

Engineers hope to track how much weight is rolling over state roads and test how different paving materials are holding up. The Golden State Freeway is considered an excellent testing site because of the nearly 20,000 trucks that use it daily.

“The major problem is the damage to the freeways. When you’re driving along in the slow lane, look at the cracks and lines in the road--it’s from the weight. It actually destroys the road,” said California Highway Patrol Sgt. Ed Shick, who staffs the existing truck scales in Castaic.

Traditional scale facilities require truckers to pull off the road to be weighed and face possible inspection. For the Weigh In Motion system, 24-inch-wide steel plates are inserted flush with the concrete in a 4-inch trough across all eight lanes of the highway.

The device can determine the speed, length and configuration of a passing truck, said Rich Quinley, a Caltrans engineer.

“It’s based upon the strain of the bending plate,” Quinley said.

Caltrans officials are quick to state that the Weigh In Motion system will not be used to issue citations to drivers.

Many truckers remain opposed to them, fearing that it will mean more tickets for speeding or carrying too much weight.

“I don’t think most drivers would like it if the streets they travel on the way to work had one of these on it for cars. Just think about it,” said Gary Alder, a truck driver who regularly travels California freeways.

This will be the fourth such device in Los Angeles County and there are more than 40 statewide. The devices trigger such strong reactions from truckers that Caltrans is purposefully vague about their locations.

Two of the devices operating in Los Angeles County are on major highways: one on the San Diego Freeway in Van Nuys and another on the Ventura Freeway near the border of Los Angeles and Ventura counties. The third is on a smaller road near the intersection of the Golden State and Antelope Valley freeways.

“A lot of the truckers are paranoid about them,” Quinley said. “It’s a ‘Big Brother is watching’ sort of thing.”

If truckers avoid the areas, it defeats the purpose of the monitoring and provides inaccurate information about the roads, Quinley said.