[Vision2020] MegaLoad

[Sam Scripter]

Photo and text from the Lewiston Morning Tribune:

http://www.lmtribune.com/breaking-news/1532/


November 8, 2010, 12:23 pm

Crews were working on two of four ConocoPhillips loads Monday morning, 
fueling speculation that the Idaho Transportation Department is readying 
permits for the megaloads sitting at the Port of Lewiston.

The crews could be seen working atop large transport assemblies that 
were attached to semi-tractors in the port?s main container yard.

ITD spokesman Jeff Stratten said Monday morning he doesn?t anticipate 
his agency taking any action on the permits Monday.

?Nothing?s imminent,? said John Roper, a spokesman for ConocoPhillips in 
Houston. ?We?re still in a wait-and-see mode.?

One week ago, the Idaho Supreme Court reversed a lower-court decision 
that revoked permits ITD issued for the four ConocoPhillips drums, which 
are bound for a Billings, Mont., refinery.

The cargo, which was barged to Lewiston from Japan, would consume two 
lanes of traffic as it travels across Idaho to the Montana border in a 
journey that?s expected to take four days.

ITD has promised it will put a number of conditions on the loads such as 
requiring they travel only at night, pull over every 15 minutes to allow 
traffic to pass and be escorted by Idaho State Police troopers. The 
off-duty officers would be paid by the oil company.

People from throughout the nation are watching what happens with great 
interest. The ConocoPhillips loads will be the heaviest to ever travel 
U.S. Highway 12, a narrow, curvy road in a canyon that parallels 
federally designated wild and scenic rivers.

Imperial Oil has requested permission from ITD to use the same route for 
more than 200 loads of a similar size in the next year. Sixteen 
shipments of the Korean-made equipment have already been barged to the 
Port of Lewiston where they?re waiting for an ITD decision on permits.

Visit LMTribune.com or see Tuesday's Lewiston Tribune for more on this 
story.


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