If all went well, it should stopped at the town of Kooskia now-
Crowds follow [first] megaload along U.S. Highway 12 in Idaho. By Kim Briggeman of the Missoulian missoulian.com
Crowds follow megaload along U.S. Highway 12 in Idaho
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Dr. Ralph Maughan is professor emeritus of political science at Idaho State University. He was a Western Watersheds Project Board Member off and on for many years, and was also its President for several years. For a long time he produced Ralph Maughan’s Wolf Report. He was a founder of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. He and Jackie Johnson Maughan wrote three editions of “Hiking Idaho.” He also wrote “Beyond the Tetons” and “Backpacking Wyoming’s Teton and Washakie Wilderness.” He created and is the administrator of The Wildlife News.
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Feb. 4.
Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) reports megaload delayed traffic for as long as 59 minutes, violating the 15 minute maximum delays promised.
Adam Rush, spokesman for the Idaho Transportation Department told the press there were 10 delays that broke the 15 minutes put forth in ITD’s approved travel plan. The agency is requiring ConocoPhilips to rewrite the plan before the loads can roll again.
Here is the AP Story. New Plan Required After Megaload Causes Long Delay.
As expected, it doesn’t look like they’re getting off to a very good start. May a myriad of problems plague them all along their way.
I’m pretty sure ITD will take into account that this is the first shipment and that their were issues that will slowly get worked out as more loads are shipped. The next loads delays will be shorter in time and amount without doubt. After a few they will have it down. This has to be a huge economic boom for the towns along the route. I’d like to see some information pertaining to that if anyone has it.
Wolf moderate,
What jobs would this create, other than people holding signs that say “delay ahead.”
I’m not at all sure they will work out the problems very fast. If you know Highway 12, it sounds to me that the megaload hung up on the first bad curve (that’s below Kooskia!)
Not sure of what “stimulus” there would be to the local economy either. I guess all these people “holding signs” stay in hotels, get perdiem (thus eat out), diesel for the truck and gas for all the support vehicles.
I must admit that it’s a bit disheartening that they are hung up so early in the trek! 700 page plan, you’d have thunk they’d have this thing licked…Damn bureaucracy bull.
“This has to be a huge economic boom for the towns along the route.”
Wow, you made me laugh. What towns along the route? After they leave Lewiston there aint much out there along the way until they get to Missoula ~ on account of because they are passing through National Forest for most of the route… Okay, so the little mom’n pops along the way get an extra week of business because they get to sell breakfast, lunch and dinner to about a dozen workers for a day, maybe even motel rooms for a couple nights, with the exception of delay time that could last a while, that should really be an economic boom for these “towns” ~ unless, of course, they were calculating all the down time from delays to make up the “economic benefit” these little places along the road might get from providing basic service to the load workers and the press and some activists.
Nothing stable is coming along with these loads, no tangible economic benefits are coming with these loads not jobs with insurance or longevity for that matter, will be coming along to these “towns along the route”.
Yeah “towns” might be a bit of an exageration 🙂 but the mom/pop restaurant/stores will make a killing I’m all for mom n’ pop. Also 1 day? I thought they were shipping 400 loads or something.
BTW I said hi on boiseweekly. I know it was you! I can tell.
440 loads will never make it up that route, something is bound to happen before many get going up the road. there aren’t many mom ‘n pops along the way. I am almost willing to bet that the fuel purchases will not be made at roadside stops either, that transport outfit will have a tanker accompany them with a pumper since they probably can’t get close enough to a pump at some little roadside station.
Maybe you should go for a drive up US12, I hear the scenery is awesome, except for the equipment that shouldn’t be obstructing the view. (Before you try guessing again, I have driven this road a number of times.)
And I don’t visit the Boise Weekly site so you are flirting with someone else there.
Ha, don’t flatter yourself, I was talking to Ralph. though they say opposites attract…But I don’t think they mean polar opposites:) I hope nothing happens. I will be taking the Magruder Road this summer. Can’t wait.
http://stayontrails.com/assets/content/maps/Magruder-Road-map-brochure.pdf
You would be correct, only been on Hwy 12 2x and once was at night, but I still stand by my “assumptions”. It’s not rocket science. 1) Many “locals” will make money 2) delays will quickly get shorter in duration 3) delays will be less frequent 4) no wrecks will occur.
I am making assumptions, but so is everyone else. Good luck to you on your crusade against the bilderburgs and the evil corporations or whatever 🙂
As Megaloads Roll, What Two of Three Plaintiffs Learned About Opposition
Lin Laughy and Borg Hendrickson will be among those who monitor the massive shipments on Highway 12, which begin tonight, but they won’t obstruct the haul. “We’re going to be engaged in the legal activity of driving.”
http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/as_megaloads_roll_what_two_of_three_plaintiffs_learned_about_opposition/C618/L618/
There is very little economic benefit to any of the small towns along the way on this mega move, the majority of people hired to support this move have not been Idaho or Montana residents..
This has been a boondoggle, since day one and is putting a wild river corridor in jeopardy.
This was very poorly planned out commercial endeavor, and the states thought that the public would never find out before the trucks started rolling..
“There is very little economic benefit to any of the small towns along the way on this mega move, the majority of people hired to support this move have not been Idaho or Montana residents.”
SB,
That’s my point. These workers aren’t from the area, so the local economies are benefiting from the temporary workers. I do not spend much time up that way, but I would think this is a very slow time of year and any extra revenue would be appreciated by local businesses. Could be totally wrong and any links you have about the positive/negative impacts on local economies would be appreciated. Especially in winter time. Shipping this stuff during summer/fall months would probably negatively affect the locals, but winter seems like a blessing for locals…dunno.
I haven’t heard much about how the locals feel about this.
Yes, you have heard how the locals feel about this, I am one of the locals, it is not a benefit..!
“I haven’t heard much about how the locals feel about this.”
Really? Perhaps if you could trouble yourself to actually read some of the material posted here over the past few months you may have “heard something from the locals on this”.
Here, try this from two of the opponents who live along the route and have been involved with the legal argument for quite some time now…
“One of the things I’ve learned is that being a citizen activist is challenging, gut-wrenching, exhausting and worth doing,” said Laughy. “It’s shaken my faith, I guess, in the American democracy. It seems to me we’re quickly becoming a plutocracy.”
“I wouldn’t call it a plutocracy, although in part it is,” Hendrickson said. “I would call it a corporatocracy. And we’re getting a first-hand picture of that right here.”
Laughy and Hendrickson, two of the three plaintiffs who challenged the shipments in court, said they were taken aback by how the system worked. “An Idaho state agency, without a single public hearing, has the power to reconfigure the nature of an entire river valley,”
http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/as_megaloads_roll_what_two_of_three_plaintiffs_learned_about_opposition/C618/L618/
_____________
And that’s only putting it simply. If you took the time to actually read some of the articles that have been posted here~and some of those have links provided in the sidebar of the article link above~ you would know enough not to say silly things like you did above. Honestly…!
I read all the hyperlinks on this post. I read that quote by Laughy and Hendrickson (cool guy), but that is only 2 people. Thought there would be groups of people w/ websites or something, which I have not been able to locate. Well SB said he didn’t agree w/the loads either. So 3 ppl.
Anywho, we’ll just have to see what the future brings to see who ends up being proven correct on this issue. I don’t like giving money to the middle east…..would rather support Canada lol.
There has been quite a bit of opposition from many of the people in Missoula, I attended a couple of city council meetings last year and the opposition was freely expressed by quite a few.
http://www.friendsoftheclearwater.org/
Ah, good to know. Thanks. Well, I’ll be against it to then because you are pretty smart on this stuff. Just figured it would benefit ppl in lewiston, missoula and ALL the places inbetween in this economic tailspin we are experience.
Peace.
I know you are veteran, so if you are ever at Boise VAMC let me know and i’ll buy you a coffee and pick your brain.
There is no reason to support or deny based on what I say, but I can tell you being a local, I am not seeing any benefit to this move, I actually think there were a lot of behind the scenes shenanigans going on with this mess.
An my vet status had nothing to do with it…
I meant because u r a vet that it is likely you go to boise vamc from time to time. Didn’t mean that because you are a veteran that you somehow know more lol.
I should be over your way in June, I have a couple of classes to teach, and I will look you up.
Cool. Hopefully I won’t be banned on this site 🙂
Seeya.
Wolf Moderate – A few years ago my road was paved. At the turnoff huge signs were set up notifying people of the construction and the delays. People out for a nice drive or tourists, usually don’t want to put up with miles of construction & delays so income to local establishments was down. A couple of the establishments in the area did pick up some business from the road crew (rooms booked for the duration) but most crews, who do this for a living, would rather eat cheap, pocket the food expense allowed by the company, instead of eating out 2-3 times a day.
The road was paved eventually and things got back to normal but that won’t be the case here. I would imagine the local sign holders & pilot cars working with these mega loads, will go home after a shift. 25 miles per hour (and I would doubt they are making that kind of time) with half hour to an hour delays, won’t put them far from home. How many establishments along this route are gonna stay open into the middle of the night to accommadate a handful of people? Its wintertime here and most establishments cut their hours back. I don’t see it as a win win situation for anyone EXCEPT the big oil companies.
(**Good that you were able to watch Earthlings – its a real eye opener)
Gonna have to agree to disagree. It’s the price we have to pay for “cheap” oil. These tourists are wasting fuel, most likely in trucks and suv’s. It’s OK to have differences of opinion last time I checked. Good luck.
Scary stuff on Monsanto! http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/the-world-according-to-monsanto/
I was surprised the “mega-load’ got hung up where it did. That’s the easiest part of the trip, compared with what’s ahead. Once they pass the Selway, the road is narrower, and the curves are much sharper. And, other than Lochsa Lodge, which is just short of the pass, there’s nothing but wild country upstream from Lowell.
http://www.boiseweekly.com/CityDesk/archives/2011/02/04/mega-loads-delayed-by-weather-for-second-night