[Vision2020] How public should our public highways be?

[Paul Rumelhart]

Since megaloads are back on topic, I just wanted to get some people's 
thoughts on one aspect of the debate.

The question I have is this:  Should people care what is being 
transported on our publicly-funded highways?  This question assumes that 
all laws and permits are being obeyed, and that there are no concerns 
about someone gaming the permit process.  I'm just curious where people 
think the lines should be drawn here.  Assuming that the cargo is legal 
(i.e. no nuclear weapons or kidnapped kids or whatever), do any of us 
have a right to ask what's in the back of the truck?  Say it's nuclear 
waste, for example, being legally transported through downtown Moscow.  
Should the public be able to demand that the trucks take another route?  
What aspects of the cargo being moved should be taken into account?  
Possible dangers to the public (such as with chemically or biologically 
unsafe materials)?  Dangers to the road surface or surrounding 
infrastructure?  Economic impact on our community?  In-state vs. 
out-of-state traffic?  Corporate vs. personal cargo?  Political views as 
they relate to the cargo?  Others my Mountain Dew-addled brain can't 
contemplate at this moment?

I have no idea where the lines should be drawn, exactly, though I do 
have opinions.  I'm just curious what others think.  I'm also hoping for 
a more well-rounded debate on this subject.  I'm hoping we can avoid 
some aspects of the megaload debate in this thread, such as whether or 
not they should have been allowed their permits or exactly how badly the 
city council had their arm twisted.  Of course, I have no say in which 
direction this conversation will lead (or even if it goes anywhere), 
that's what makes conversations fun, I'm just stating my desire to look 
at just this one aspect here.

Oh, yeah.  If the fact that I brought up this topic immediately spurs 
you to reflexively fire off flame mail in my direction, please leave the 
other list members out of it and just send it to me personally.  Or you 
could pretend that someone you admire or even like posted this message.

Paul