Deputy Idaho Attorney General Larry Allen, in ITD's opening statement at the megaloads hearing this morning, said, "ITD has a good process in place and it takes very seriously the charge, as testimony will show today, of insuring public safety and convenience." He said, "ITD's charge is to move both people and commerce safely through the state," and said, "A great deal of thought has gone into this traffic control plan."

Allen said ITD listened to public comments and asked for changes in the plan because of them. "Bridges are of course the weak link of the highway system, and there has been exhaustive engineering testing done to make sure they will not be impacted," he said. "This was not a knee-jerk reaction. This was a plan developed over the course of three years."