Highway 35 residents speak in favor of restricting trucks at meeting

By Jennifer McBride/Leader Staff

The word repeated over and over again was "pristine."

"We have a pristine lake that can never be fixed and can never be replaced," a woman from Polson said during two hours of public comment at a June 4 meeting to determine whether the Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) should change commercial trucking regulation along Highway 35. She was one of several dozen people who spoke in favor of limiting truck traffic close to Flathead Lake.

About 200 people packed the KwaTaqNuk to listen and comment on a presentation by MDT Director Jim Lynch. Lynch ordered a new investigation into limiting truck traffic on Highway 35 after an April 2 truck accident which spilled 6,000 gasoline perilously close to Flathead lake. The spill also forced five local houses to be evacuated. Clean-up expenses so far have exceeded $1 million.

Lynch gave his 30-slide presentation using archived data and recent information collected by the MDT in the past two weeks. Lynch compared Highway 35 with Highway 93 because, he explained, if trucks were restricted from Highway 35, they would most likely use Highway 93. His goal in the study was to gather information so that people from all sides could be "on the same page."

"We're not trying to decide what's better or what's worse," Lynch said. "The purpose of this would be to collect information."

While Lynch said designating Highway 35 a "scenic byway," as some residents have urged, wouldn't give MDT any additional regulatory ability, he said the department could change current restrictions on trucks after careful consideration as long as they don't act in a discriminatory manner. MDT already regulates truck length, width and height. However, Lynch said any decision he made could be overturned by the legislature. The only way any restrictions would work, he explained, would be if the majority of people agreed with the decision.

"It's got to be a collective decision," Lynch said. "I can't be king."

Overall, MDT found that Highway 35 was generally closer to the shore of Flathead Lake, had more access points (especially residential driveways) and fewer passing lanes. Highway 93 has a higher speed limit and is generally more steep. In a 2006 study, MDT reported Highway 35 was currently at operating capacity — defined as having "virtually no usable gaps in the traffic stream." Highway 93, the MDT reported, was less overburdened.

The MDT tested the difference between Highway 35 and Highway 93 with a trip between Polson and Columbia Falls in a a 57,580-pound truck. Using Highway 35, the trip was 59 miles long, lasting one hour, 15 minutes and consuming 9.9 gallons of gas. On Highway 93, the same trip was 74 miles. It lasted one hour, 40 minutes and consumed 16.2 gallons of gas.

In another study, MDT recorded truck movements along Highway 35 and Highway 93. On May 23, MDT readers stood at both ends of each highway and determined how many trucks traffic went through both points, and how many only passed through one point, thus making local deliveries. According to the data, 43 percent of the trucks driving along Highway 35 are delivering goods between Polson and Bigfork, not just using the road as a faster route to Kalispell or Missoula. The proportion of local deliveries gets even higher with certain commodities. For example, Lynch said, 90 percent of propane deliveries along Highway 35 are residential. Comparatively, on Highway 93, between 55 to 56 percent of trucks made their final deliveries between Polson and Somers. That day, MDT found 399 trucks traveling Highway 35 and 607 trucks driving Highway 93.

Trucks are involved in very few crashes, Lynch said. Highway 35 and Highway 93 have almost identical per capita truck crashes between 2002 and 2006. In 2004, the year with the highest number of truck crashes in the past decade, there were nine total reported truck crashes on Highway 35 from Polson to Bigfork compared with slightly more than 60 non-truck crashes. On Highway 93, the highest year was 2003, when there were 10 total truck crashes between Polson and Somers compared with 100 non-truck crashes.

Despite the low amount of trucks on the road and the low percentage of trucks involved in accidents, residents along Highway 35 spoke about misuse of the road by local truckers, who they said sped, used jake breaks without mufflers, tailgated and generally cross the center line around the highway's many steep switch backs. Trucks, though they may be involved in fewer accidents, cause more damage. Attorney Monte Beck spoke about a cement truck accident in 1999 which took the lives of two young women. He recommended hiring a lobbyist, if necessary, to push local residents' claims.

"It behooves this group to organize," he said.

Other people said that, while they had no problems with trucks generally, Highway 35 was two narrow to meet truckers' needs. Gary Morigeau spoke of a trucker's tire coming off and hitting his vehicle.

"If I had had six inches or even a foot, I would have been able to avoid that accident," he said. "The road's just too narrow."

Because of the narrowness of the road, several people advocated restricting pup tanks. Two-trailer unit tucks have been involved in 12 of the 31 truck crashes on Highway 35 in the past five years. There have only been four two-trailer unit truck crashes on Highway 93 in the same period of time. Kevin Howlett, director of tribal health for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, said asking MDT to widen the roads was wishful thinking.

"It's just too expensive," Howlett explained. "It's one of two roads that the state can do nothing about."

Spook Stang, executive vice president of the Montana Motor Carriers Association, said that problems were usually caused by "rogue truckers" and encouraged locals to help police the trucks by calling companies on bad drivers.

"The trucking industry does not condone rogue truckers, but we are big supporters of safety," he said. "We have supported and pushed every safety standard we can."

Stang also said that trucks are the economic heartbeat of the community.

"If we didn't have trucks, we wouldn't have anything in this room. You wouldn't have the clothes or cars to drive or fuel for your cars," he said.

Since they pay 53 percent of the taxes while using 10.5 percent of the roads, he also said he felt trucks deserved "consideration."

A few people took issue with Stang's statement, pointing out that trucks also caused the majority of the wear and tear on the road. The cost of the taxes are also passed on to consumers.

"We're paying twice and they're not paying at all," Clarence Brazil, a Finley Point resident, said.

Highway 35's proximity to the lake and to local residences could easily cause more environmental catastrophe, when clean-up costs could far exceed the $1 million insurance truckers are required to have. Ron and Marie Koehler, relatives of one of the couples forced to evacuate their home in the wake of the April 2 gas spill, were there to speak about the impact. Ron Koehler said the spill was unique because of the porous bedrock of the road.

"The average gas spill costs about $30,000," he explained. Even if officials laid absorbent on the gasoline the moment the tanker flipped, fuel still would have slipped through the bedrock. "They've never seen anything like it before," he said.

If nothing else, some residents hoped hazardous waste trucks could be restricted to Highway 93. Dick Schultz, who has been a Finley Point resident for decades, underscored the damage trucks could do when he spoke of a truck rolling over and igniting on his property.

"It was like 266 napalm bombs dropped in my backyard," he said. "You were able to see the flames 10 miles away."

Elsa Duford, a Polson City Council member, asked about the potential effects of more truck traffic across the Armed Forces Memorial bridge on Highway 93. Lynch said the bridge was on a two-year inspection schedule and the vibration Duford felt driving over the lake was a good thing.

"If it's unsafe, you'll see a closed sign on it," Lynch said.

Dave Morrison of Hanson trucking said that, if trucks were diverted onto Highway 93, it would cost his company an additional $9,000 per truck every year.

"That'd be hard for us," he said. He also encouraged people to help police poor driving.

Other people accused Lynch of being unduly influenced by the trucking lobby, which one resident said had "held hostage" changes on Highway 35 for years. Lynch said 75 percent of MDT employees are scientists, not truck drivers, and gave his personal cell phone number to everyone in the room to prove his interest in receiving public comment.

In the end, Lynch said he appreciated the "caliber" of the public comments and said the MDT would continue to accept public comments and conduct research.

"Maybe I'm being optimistic, but I think we can reach a decision that will be best for the safety of people and the environment that the majority of people can agree with," he said.

When the MDT finishes collecting public comment, Lynch said there would be another set of meetings to discuss the findings. Comments on Highway 35 can be submitted by mail to Dwane Kailey, District Administrator, PO Box 7039, Missoula MT 59807-7039, or online at www.mdt.mt.gov/mdt/comment_form.shtml.