[Vision2020] ITD Neglected Its Mandate

[Tom Hansen]

Courtesy of the "Letters to the Editor" section of today's (November 25, 2011 ) Moscow-Pullman Daily News with special thanks to Eric Jensen.

------------------------------
ITD neglected its mandate
Posted: Friday, November 25, 2011 12:00 am
On Oct. 27, my wife and I were driving from the Lewis-Clark Valley to Moscow. At about 8-8:30 p.m. we came over the top of the hill by Johnson Trucking doing the speed limit of 60 mph. A few seconds after coming over the top of the hill we were surprised by dozens of pylons - maybe hundreds - across all lanes of the highway. There was no warning, no signage to explain how to get through this mess, and no Idaho Transportation Department employees. Images of a collision rushed through my mind. There was a lone worker by a nonstate of Idaho truck along the side of the road. He made no effort to direct or assist us. We did not know how to get through this massive obstruction and were somewhat panic stricken. We made it through the pylons somehow but it all happened so quickly I don't recall how we did it.
This was a night that megaloads were running through Moscow. ITD turned over a portion of a public highway to Big Oil. It is the role of the state to manage public highways, not private industry.
The Idaho Transportation Department neglected its mandate to protect public safety in this instance. ITD officials need to be held publicly accountable for this dangerous chaos.
Eric L. Jensen
Moscow
------------------------------

Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"If not us, who?
If not now, when?"

- Unknown
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/vision2020/attachments/20111125/90aeded3/attachment.html>