Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Public Meeting
Residents and users of Highway 35 on the east shore of Flathead Lake are invited to meet Friday, May 16, at 7 p.m. at the Yellow Bay Clubhouse near mile marker 18 for an informal discussion of traffic safety on the highway. Anyone interested in this issue is encouraged to attend. This is not a Montana Department of Transportation meeting, although representatives of that agency have been invited to attend. For more information, contact Rose Schwennesen (982-3401) or Pat Saville (982-3421).
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3 comments:
With traffic rolling smoothly along Hwy 35 at the 5 mile marker, it is easy to forget that the "hidden" cost of the spill is ongoing. I offer up here a small sample of the Hell that used to be our families lakefront paradise. We don't have to take all trucks off of Hwy 35, but we do have to make sure that no family ever goes through this again.
http://img150.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=69213_P5110112_122_1123lo.JPG
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My Wife and I are residents of Eastside Flathead for 5 Years. A truly beautyfull and relaxing Part of this grand State. On the Shore of the biggest natural Body
of Freshwater west of the Missisippi winds Hwy 35, a road just wide enough to be a Scenic Hwy . Orchards , Lake-homes , Local Residents , Tourists and Wildlife should share this Road.
Well , the Reality is different: Hwy 35 became a TRUCKING ROUTE. On the East Side ,Presently there are more Big Rigs, some with Double Trailers, , then Passenger Cars. The Truck traffic starts haevy at 4 Am and does not stop till 10 PM.
Truck Speeds up to 90 Miles per Hour have been measured, and these are not exceptions !
Lets Think for a Minute , how can even an expierenced Driver react with a Double Trailer, at
say 80 Miles/hr on a narrow Highway with no Shoulder , a Cliff or Lake on One side , Trees or Rocks on the other ?
So, do we have to deal with continued " Jake Braking" and everpresent roaring of the Diesel Rigs
over the Lake, wait for a couple more Deaths or
paraplegics, a few more hazardous Spills until that Bucket is full ?
Or, should we all sit down and come up with a sensible Solution ? Lets make an serious Effort !!
May 15, 2008
A note for the meeting of May 16th.
I talked to Don Schwennesen after reading his Letter To the Editor of the Missoulian and told him
how I felt he was “right on”. When he mentioned the meeting of May 16th, I said I would be delighted to come and “second the motion”. Meanwhile, another wreck took place on Finley Point. It was on my property, and the victim was an incompetent (or just plain stupid) sit-down lawn mower operator-----me. Three broken ribs, and worse, a splintered scapula sending bone spicules, like fiery darts, into surrounding muscles. I could provide several reasons for the mishap, but let me say it is a humbling experience. The Lord made his point and is now allowing me to progress rapidly as I watch the orchard work pile up.
We talked to Les Sheridan when we first moved here. He was so proud of his constructing the east
shore road and how it fit in to this wonderful area ---------in his opinion, the best place in the world. He did not foresee that it would become a truck route.
I agree with Don, that the chip trucks, even with closely tethered pups, if the drivers are careful
and drive at legal speeds, are not a problem -------not aesthetically satisfying, but not dangerous.
However, we have all seen long tongued “pups” getting entirely too frisky. And, if a wheel whips
onto the narrow, soft shoulder, bad news. Also we see excessive speed with tankers, seemingly in
the very vehicles whose drivers should be the most cautious. Remember the old movies that show
the “nitro” drivers going like heck, over bumps, causing white knuckles and bleeding lips, as if they thought they should go fast and get the chance of being blown to kingdom come over with? The
obvious thing is that we have a road that is suitable for only limited use.
The sad part of all this is how rapidly the issue has turned into “them” against “us”. But what do we expect. Democrats against Republicans; conservatives against liberals. Any category you can think of has an antagonistic group that is capable of creating stalemate. But we have to truly sit down with the truckers
organization and decide if we want to solve this problem or just fight and bring on the lawyers.
If truckers will not just stand firm but spill out their honest grievances, I think we could get
somewhere. Long before the surge in cost of diesel fuel, they successfully got through double
trailer use and using the less hilly east shore route. But, even then, the only consideration was
cost. Environmental issues have come to the fore, adding to the complexity of finding a suitable
solution.
I think a single tank tanker could be acceptable for deliveries that couldn’t be made from the west
shore. Chip trucks are O.K. All vehicles need to keep their speed within the suitable speed limits
already in place.
Maybe we could work with them to get at the heart of their problem-----the cost of fuel. The pathetic TV news that reminds us every night that food costs are going up because of the cost of oil that is used in farm machinery, fertilizer, transportation. Why the huge rise in price?. At $110 a barrel (55 gallons), that would mean $2.00/gallon, yet if oil rises 10 cents a barrel, another 10 cents a gallon increase appears at the pumps. Diesel used to require very little refining. Even with environmental protection requirements such as providing low sulfur fuel, the refining costs should be no where near that of all the “regional blends” of gasoline. With the low sulfur diesel fuel at the pumps, the differential between diesel and regular gas has varied, capriciously, between 15 and
80 cents. Industries answer is that they have to work with the restraints of refinery capacity and
environmental laws. A couple of years ago, I was looking at an efficient Volkswagen diesel, with
EPA standards equal to our gas standards, 55mpg, highway, and asked why the price of diesel
has gone up. I was told that all of our diesel fuel comes from a BP refinery in Canada. When
Exxon can make 11 billion a quarter and not plow any of into refinery production to ease the cost of the fuel that runs the nation, it makes me mad. Maybe if enough lobbies (such as trucker's) get together, they can fight with the big boys.
I’m hopeful, since a good tone has been set, that through give and take, we can have a satisfactory result.
Sincerely,
Ralph K. Campbell, M.D.
33532 N. Finley Pt. Rd.
Polson, MT 59860
I noticed, too late, an editorial in today's Missoulian, that they emphasized what should be at the core of our problem ------a behavior problem of a few who just don't believe in the rules. I guess, in our society, all we can do is set reasonable rules and come down hard on those who flaunt the law. [How about more State funds going into highway patrol?]
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