Category Archives: Issues

Senator Schmidt & Representative Ringo Give Legislative Preview on U.S. Highway 95 Alignment

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Listen to Senator Schmidt and Representative Ringo Give Legislative Preview Part 3, aired by KRFP Radio Free Moscow between 18:58 and 9:35 of the Friday, January 4, 2013, Evening Report, Vendors Fee, to hear about Highway 95 rerouting issues and associated industrial transportation and port decisions addressed by the Idaho and federal transportation agencies and the Idaho Legislature in the upcoming 2013 session.

ITD Releases Draft EIS on Proposed Routes for Widening U.S. 95

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Hear about the potential environmental, economic, and safety consequences of various re-rerouting alternatives considered in a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) compiled by the Idaho Transportation Department (ITD), detailed in the news story ITD Releases Draft EIS on Proposed Routes for Widening U.S. 95 between 20:05 and 10:25 of the Monday, December 31, 2012, KRFP Radio Free Moscow Evening Report entitled ITD Draft EIS on U.S. 95 Widening.

Safety and the Law

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Al Poplawsky, Moscow

The Moscow-Pullman Daily News 12/29/12

The release of the draft environmental impact statement for relocation of U.S. Highway 95 south of Moscow is imminent, and the preferred alternative is the same, old, problematic, eastern route over the shoulder of Paradise Ridge.

A recent editorial in this paper (Daily News, December 13) erroneously referred to the first document for this project as an environmental impact statement (EIS).  However, it was actually an environmental assessment (EA) – a much less thorough study and document.  The law is clear that an EIS is required for the relocation of a highway to a divided highway.  The attempt of the Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) to push this project through without an EIS was a blatant attempt at violation of the law.

Environmentalists have been blamed for the deaths and injuries that have occurred on this stretch of Highway 95 since the favorable ruling in their lawsuit.  However, we were just trying to uphold the law.  We have laws for a reason.  Those who criticize us for our efforts are advocating for the breaking of our laws.  If the majority of us think a law should be changed, then maybe it should be.  But we should not advocate for the breaking of laws that are on the books. Continue reading →

Fix Existing U.S. 95

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David Hall, Moscow

The Moscow-Pullman Daily News 12/22/12

The original report that the Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) produced was an environmental assessment (EA), not an improperly done draft environmental impact statement (EIS) as stated in the Daily News’ editorial on December 13.  An EA is a much less rigorous review than an EIS, which the court ordered.

Safety is the largest issue here and the supposed reason for the realignment/upgrade.  It has not been shown to my satisfaction that the eastern alignment would be safer than, or even as safe as, the other alignment options.  There is quite a bit of testimony that there is increased snow, fog, and other hazardous weather and driving conditions on the shoulder of Paradise Ridge compared to the existing route.  In addition, the eastern alignment might require deer/elk/moose fencing to attempt to keep game off the highway.

With safety of the driving public of primary importance, why has the Idaho Transportation Department done nothing in the past ten years to improve safety along the existing HIghway 95 route?  I am sure there are things that ITD could have done – reducing the speed limits, placing warning signs, and probably some localized realignments.  It makes so much more sense to fix the existing route than to plow through a new area. Continue reading →

Weather Delays Move of Oversized Shipment

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Weather has delayed an extra-long shipment that was scheduled to move from the Port of Lewiston across north central Idaho on U.S. Highway 12 late Thursday evening and this morning (Friday, December 21).

Snow was likely at Powell Thursday night near the Montana border, according to the National Weather Service.

No new date has been set to move the 163-foot-long rig carrying a generator skid, according to the Idaho Transportation Department.

(By The Lewiston Tribune)

Extra-Long Rig Will Move on U.S. Highway 12

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Motorists may experience traffic delays as long as 15 minutes, as an extra-long rig makes its way across Idaho on U.S. Highway 12 tonight and Friday morning.

The 163-foot-long truck will carry a generator skid from the Port of Lewiston to the Montana border between 10 pm today (Thursday, December 20) and 5:30 am on Friday if weather permits, according to a news release from the Idaho Transportation Department.

The National Weather Service is predicting a wide range of weather on the route.  Temperatures in Lewiston are expected to be 35 degrees with a 20 percent chance of rain.  Snow is likely at Powell near the Montana border, with temperatures in the low 20s.

The shipment is 15 feet wide, 16 1/2 feet tall, and 242,800 pounds and will need two lanes of traffic to negotiate corners, according to the transportation department.  It is also set to cause a delay for vehicles on U.S. Highway 95 near the Spalding bridge.

Many details about the cargo were not disclosed by the transportation department on Wednesday.  A news release announcing the shipment was issued after the agency’s close of business.

(By The Lewiston Tribune)

Palouse Prairie Foundation’s Tim Hatten Speaks about Rare Ecosystem Threatened by U.S. Highway 95 Realignment Plans

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KRFP Radio Free Moscow features an interview with Tim Hatten of the Palouse Prairie Foundation, between 15:29 and 6:09 of the Thursday, December 13, 2012, Evening Report, Palouse Prairie & U.S. 95.  Tim describes this rare grassland ecosystem and Highway 95 realignment threats to its integrity.

Highway 95 Section Needs Fix Sooner than Later

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Murf Raquet (for the editorial board), Moscow

The Moscow-Pullman Daily News 12/13/12

Realignment, reroute, fix, or upgrade, whatever term you prefer, it looks as if a treacherous portion of U.S. Highway 95 is finally getting the attention it has needed for a long time.

The Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) has issued a draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) for its selection of a new route for Highway 95 between Thorn Creek Road and south Moscow.  ITD has picked the E2 route to the east of Highway 95 on Paradise Ridge.

More than a decade ago, Idaho officials had planned to build a straighter and safer 6.5-mile stretch of the state’s major north-south road.  They had proposed numerous options to the west and east of the curvy part and one that improved the existing section.

An alternative that rerouted the highway over parts of Paradise Ridge was then also favored by the state.  Residents on the ridge and others objected, saying the road would have a disastrous effect on portions of Palouse prairie that manage to exist in patches on the ridge.

A lawsuit was filed in 2003 saying the state did not properly conduct a DEIS for the route.  (Some folks even tried to save the beleaguered prairie by tying it to the giant Palouse earthworm, but the grassroots movement gained little traction.) Continue reading →

Bakken Oil Field Equipment on Idaho Roads?

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…In other business, Lewiston Port Commissioners on Wednesday also discussed another possibility for hauling machinery or supplies to the Bakken oil fields in North Dakota.

The port has already received an inquiry from a business that wants to barge supplies up the Columbia and Snake rivers and load them onto trucks at Lewiston for the last leg of the journey, Port Manager David Doeringsfeld said.

The port’s staff is drafting an ad to appear in North Dakota newspapers that would promote how the Port of Lewiston is less than 900 miles from the oil fields, Doeringsfeld said.

Haulers who want to send regular and oversized shipments through the port could be among the new customers the port generates through the promotion, Doeringsfeld said.

(Excerpt from Food Processing Facility for Multiple Ventures Proposed by Elaine Williams, The Lewiston Tribune)

Paradise Ridge Defense Coalition Member Critical of ITD Decision in Favor of Eastern U.S. 95 Alignment South of Moscow

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KRFP Radio Free Moscow airs an interview with Al Poplawsky of the Paradise Ridge Defense Coalition, between 18:11 and 8:30 of the Monday, December 10, 2012, Evening Report, Paradise Ridge Defense Coalition, describing the many potential impacts to native Palouse Prairie habitat and wildlife, highway traveler safety, and area resident aesthetics of a Highway 95 eastern re-alignment south of Moscow, as proposed by a citizen-contested 2002 environmental assessment and a 2012 draft environment impact statement advanced by the Idaho Transportation Department.