MDOT to take comments on possible Highway 35 restrictions

By ALEX STRICKLAND / Bigfork Eagle

In the wake of two truck crashes along Flathead Lake in the last month, the Montana Department of Transportation has determined it could be possible to levy some restrictions on Highway 35.

MDOT Director Jim Lynch said that the old refrain has been that since the highway recieves federal funding, no travel restrictions can be placed on it. But research conducted by his staff since the accidents — the first of which on April 2 spillled more than 6,300 gallons of gasoline — shows that with federal approval, certain restrictions can be applied.

"The state does have the ability to limit or restrict as long as you follow certain parameters," he said.

But before anything gets moving forward, Lynch said collecting public comment would be key, as well as trying to provide information for people who live along the East Shore as to what the restrictions could mean to them.

"We have information on what's really happenning on 35," he said. "The first step is to really come to the community and inform them 'Who is Highway 35 for this area.'"

A public meeting will be held at 7 p.m. on May 16 at the Yellow Bay Clubhouse to collect comment. The meeting is being put on by East Shore residents Rose Schwennesen and Pat Seville. Schwennesen said the DOT was invited, but no one had confirmed they would be there as of press time.

"Highway 35 has a gas station, FedEx trucks, people moving in and out of homes," Lynch said. "We need to get into the community and see what some of these concerns are."

Highway 35 also sees traffic from logging trucks and other delivery trucks whose destination or point of origin is along the East Shore.

The first truck crash involved what Lynch said is called a "truck-and-pup" rig, where a truck hauls two trailers, the second of which is smaller than the first.

That setup is different, than say a double, which is a truck hauling two equal size trailers or a truck and trailer, which would be like a dump truck hauling a trailer.

The fuel spilled in the April 2 crash has forced the evacuation of five homes near Finley Point and has necessitated the construction of a filtration system to help ensure that no gasoline makes it to Flathead Lake. Only about 1,400 gallons were recovered in the initial cleanup, meaning the rest is trapped underground somewhere in the bedrock and is slowly seeping out through springs and as vapor.

The second crash, on April 27, was also a single vehicle accident and a guardrail that became entangled with the truck halted its slide down a steep enbankment to the lake. The driver, 42-year -old Robert Middleworth of Walla Walla, Wash. told the Lake County Leader, "That guard rail saved my life."

Middleworth was carrying a load of plants and was uninjured in the accident.

"I only drive this way because other truckers do," he told the Leader. "It's five miles shorter, I think, but it's harder driving with all the turns."

Middleworth also told the Polson paper that truck drivers sometimes prefer highways with slower speed — Highway 35 is 50 mph versus 70 mph on Highway 93 — because it's safer for the drivers.

"So there are reasons for both sides," he said.

Allen Rodgers, who lives along Highway 35 near Yellow Bay, said nothing has changed since last month's accidents.

"They're not slowing down," he said of the trucks.

Rodgers also said that the meeting would be instrumental in hearing both sides of the argument surrounding truck restrictions as well as having an opportunity for residents to be heard.

"Anybody who is at all interested and needs facts should come that meeting," he said

Lynch said that any restrictions on a highway can't be discriminitory, so restrictions could be made based on things like length or number of units, but couldn't bear down unfairly on specific targetsy.

The process by which such restrictions could be implimented, Code of Federal Regulations 658, states that "Nothing in this regulation shall be construed to prevent any State from applying any weight and size limits to other highways, except when such limits would deny reasonable access to the National Network."

That statute, combined with some existing state laws, make it possible for MDOT to impliment regulations, Lynch said, being careful to note that federal agencies have to sign off on any restrictions.

Though the method for collecting public comment and talking with the public hasn't yet be set out, Lynch said he felt a system would be in place by the end of the month.

"There are a lot of people who would want to weigh in on this topic," he said. "We want to air this out."

According to MDOT statistics, there were 297 vehicle crashes in the last five years between Polson and Bigfork. Twenty-nine of them involved trucks.

East Shore residents have long argued that Highway 93 along the West Shore of Flathead Lake is a safer alternative because the road is wider and spends a greater portion of its length away from the lakeshore.