The House Transportation Committee has given its unanimous support to SB 1064, removing the expiration date from a 10-year pilot project allowing extra-heavy trucks on 35 specific routes in southern Idaho. Roy Eiguren, speaking for the Right Truck for Idaho Coalition, said the pilot project showed big economic gains for shippers like Amalgamated Sugar Co. and U.S. Ecology Corp., and no significant increased damage to the specific routes, according to the Idaho Transportation Department. “These trucks have both a greater braking capacity, as well as a larger number of axles, resulting in fewer pounds per square inch of tire,” Eiguren told the committee. He noted that the routes involved are “all in southern Idaho, all south of the Salmon River.” The bill, which now moves to the full House, earlier passed the Senate on a 33-1 vote.

A much more controversial proposal, to open up all non-freeway routes in the state to the extra-heavy trucks – which weigh 129,000 pounds instead of the usual limit of 105,500 – if local highway districts approve based on ITD criteria, wasn’t taken up in the House committee today. That would include North Idaho routes along with the rest of the state; an array of North Idaho local elected officials have objected to the idea. Chairman Joe Palmer, R-Meridian, said, “We’ll put it on the schedule as soon as we can. We’ll definitely have a hearing.”

Dave Carlson of AAA testified against SB 1064, saying the ITD’s study included a single sentence saying “that ITD did not observe any significant effect.” He said, “But the bulk of the study does not back up that particular claim.” Carlson said AAA was hopeful that the pilot project would provide good data on the effect of the extra-heavy trucks on road surfaces and bridges, but said, “It is limited and incomplete and is not something we can depend on.”