<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" ><tr><td valign="top" style="font: inherit;"><DIV>Mr. Hansen,</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>You should seriously consider calling every gas station along US 95 and Highway 12 to refuse service to any vehicle or party of the mega-load convoy. If they cannot go to the bathroom, eat, or refuel, the trip would pretty much be impossible. I am sure you could also get the locals that don't want the mega-loads going by and through their property to also call local gas stations that wish to remain in business to refuse service to the convoy. Maybe get a list of the phone numbers of each gas station and service center and post them online for everyone to call. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Keep up the good fight,</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Donovan Arnold<BR><BR>--- On <B>Sat, 4/16/11, Tom Hansen <I><thansen@moscow.com></I></B> wrote:<BR></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE style="BORDER-LEFT: rgb(16,16,255) 2px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px"><BR>From: Tom Hansen <thansen@moscow.com><BR>Subject: [Vision2020] Megaload module is a <SPAN>megamess</SPAN><BR>To: "Moscow Vision 2020" <vision2020@moscow.com><BR>Cc: "Borg Hendrickson" <chicory@wildblue.net>, "Friends of the Clearwater" <foc@friendsoftheclearwater.org>, "Fritz Knorr" <fritzknorr@gmail.com>, "Jeanne McHale" <jeannemchale@hotmail.com>, "Brett Haverstick" <bhaverstick@yahoo.com>, "Friends of the Palouse Ranger District" <fprd09@gmail.com>, "Helen Yost" <helen.yost@vandals.uidaho.edu><BR>Date: Saturday, April 16, 2011, 4:58 AM<BR><BR>
<DIV class=plainMail>Courtesy of today's (April 16, 2011) Moscow-Pullman Daily News.<BR><BR>----------------------------------------------------------<BR><BR>OUR VIEW: Megaload module is a megamess<BR>Sandra Kelly, for the editorial board<BR>Posted on: Saturday, April 16, 2011<BR><BR><BR>Imperial Oil's test module megaload ran into trouble on Tuesday just as<BR>the trip was getting started.<BR><BR>What a surprise.<BR><BR>The test module, at 490,000 pounds, nearly 250 feet long and three stories<BR>tall, was the third-heaviest shipment to ever travel on U.S. Highway 12.<BR>ExxonMobil subsidiary Imperial Oil said it hoped the huge load would<BR>demonstrate that U.S. 12 can handle such cargo safely.<BR><BR>So far, not so good.<BR><BR>About three miles east of Orofino, the transport, which took up two lanes<BR>of traffic, hit a wire supporting an Avista power pole. The pole broke and<BR>the wire, which carried no electricity, was flung over a
high-voltage<BR>power line, shorting it out and causing a power outage.<BR><BR>For about five hours 1,300 or so homes and businesses around Pierce and<BR>Weippe in north central Idaho were without electricity.<BR><BR>It gets chilly up there in the wee hours of the morning. A little<BR>electricity powering the heater is pretty nice to have. Never mind<BR>counting on the clock radio to get you up for work.<BR><BR>Thanks Imperial Oil.<BR><BR>Besides, traffic was delayed an hour instead of the 15 minutes the Idaho<BR>Department of Transportation allowed. Now the convoy is parked near<BR>Kamiah, but is expected to roll again Monday night.<BR><BR>Pius Rolheiser, a spokesman for Imperial Oil, said they hope the<BR>investigation as to how this happened will help adjust plans for future<BR>moves.<BR><BR>Here's a thought - in the future, don't transport these megaloads on U.S.<BR>12. Maybe, just maybe, the folks who live in that area knew what they
were<BR>talking about when they said loads that big wouldn't work on the narrow<BR>road.<BR><BR>The Idaho Transportation Department should have listened to their concerns<BR>about traffic delays, about width and height and the twisty nature of the<BR>scenic byway.<BR><BR>Setbacks like this have many in Lewiston worried that special interest<BR>groups can postpone oversized shipments.<BR><BR>"It is critical that we preserve our freight corridors now and in the<BR>future for our economic vitality," said Doug Mattoon, the executive<BR>director of Valley Vision.<BR><BR>Officials should also consider the future and vitality of scenic U.S. 12.<BR><BR>Imperial Oil is already downsizing many shipments so they can transport<BR>them up U.S. 95 through Moscow to Interstate 90. Tuesday's experiment<BR>proves they should convert all of them and stay off U.S. Highway 12.<BR><BR>We wonder what their test runs up this way will
prove.<BR><BR>----------------------------------------------------------<BR><BR>Dreys round town, Moscow.<BR><BR>Tom Hansen<BR>Moscow, Idaho<BR><BR><BR>"The Pessimist complains about the wind, the Optimist expects it to<BR>changeand the Realist adjusts his sails."<BR><BR>- Unknown<BR><BR>=======================================================<BR>List services made available by First Step Internet, <BR>serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994. <BR> <A href="http://www.fsr.net/" target=_blank>http://www.fsr.net</A> <BR> mailto:<A href="http://us.mc381.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=Vision2020@moscow.com"
ymailto="mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com">Vision2020@moscow.com</A><BR>=======================================================<BR></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></td></tr></table>