The juxtaposition of news reports out of the state Legislature reveals clashing objectives.
While lawmakers are struggling to find $246 million for minimal work on the Connecting Idaho highway repair and improvement program, they are at the same time considering opening up another 400 miles of state roads to monster trucks weighing up to 129,000 pounds.
Politically courageous, strong-willed legislators with a heap of common sense should put the brakes on this scheme pushed by a veritable juggernaut of 38 agriculture and trucking groups with a team of lobbyists, all descended on Capitol corridors with tales of a bonanza of economic benefits trailing behind the trucks.
Those driving the some 800 miles of roads now designated for heavy trucks will understandably raise their eyebrows about the proposal to add 400 more miles. Idaho's roads are years behind in maintenance for lack of funds, and even farther behind in improvements. With the federal highway budget barer than Old Mother Hubbard's cupboard, Idaho can't expect much help out of Washington, D.C.
Driving a few miles on Interstate 84 provides a glimpse of Idaho road conditions. The right lane literally has two grooves pounded into the pavement from the weight of trucks. For drivers of lighter vehicles, leaving or entering the right lane is an adventure in trying to keep control.
One lawmaker pushing the plan, despite his conflict of interest as a trucking company owner, state Rep. Tim Corder, R-Mountain Home, defends heavier trucks and blames age for road conditions.
That is an essential reason for rejecting the proposal.
Idaho's roads are not properly maintained. They are years behind accommodating more traffic volume. And there's no prospect they'll be brought up to par anytime soon.
How can the Legislature justify accelerating disrepair and risky driving conditions in light of the current conditions?
Imagine what drivers of smaller, lighter vehicles would face on two roads proposed as access of the monster trucks, U.S. Highways 20 and 26, narrower, two-lane roads that crisscross Blaine County. With oncoming closing speeds of some 100 miles per hour, drivers would face the shock of the compressed air wave surrounding the truck and the risk of losing stability.
Promoters of the heavier trucks are hailing economic benefits—the saved costs of fewer trucks and fewer drivers hauling heavier loads with possible less fuel.
But whatever benefits trucking companies and their clients would enjoy, the public at large would not.
More road risks and more road damage would be the public's price to pay.
