Foe Of Truck Weight Boost Woos UI Students Urges Letter Writing Campaign
Armed with candy bars and a laptop computer, Bill Washburn attempted to enlist University of Idaho students in a battle over Idaho’s highways.
Washburn is a member of Idaho for Safe Highways, which is opposing a bill that would allow heavier trucks to travel some state roadways.
He set up shop Wednesday in the student union building.
“What do we have to do for a candy bar?” asked one student passing by Washburn’s table.
Washburn is urging students to write letters to key lawmakers opposing a bill to raise truck weight limits from 105,500 pounds to 129,000 pounds as a pilot project. He decided to visit the campus after learning from student lobbyists in Boise that Highway 95 is a key campus issue.
Since direct flights from Moscow to Boise were discontinued, safe highway travel has become a problem for university officials. President Robert Hoover has said he receives e-mail from parents concerned about sending their children to school in Moscow if it means traveling Highway 95.
In 1995, two freshmen enrolled at the university were killed on their way to Moscow after their pickup collided with the trailer of a semi-truck on Highway 95.
Washburn also made his pitch to student senators who are considering a resolution opposing the bill. More powerful than a resolution, however, are personal letters, he said. To help with writer’s block, students could personalize form letters on his laptop and print them.
Although the proposal does not call for bigger trucks, it would allow heavier trucks. Washburn said heavier trucks will damage the road and are unsafe because they take longer to slow and stop. But proponents of the bill say a truck carrying more weight across more axles actually reduces the load on pavement.
xxxx THE BILL The bill would raise truck weight limits from 105,500 pounds to 129,000 pounds. The proposal does not call for bigger trucks.