Emmert International's project manager, Mark Albrecht, said his firm has hired a barricade company to block the turnouts along U.S. Highway 12 before the ConocoPhillips megaloads come through. Though ITD's proposed permits call for barricades for 24 hours in advance of the loads, Albrecht said, "We'll try to accommodate 'em as much as we can." He said his firm will have someone at the pullouts to warn people who use them earlier in the day, and likely would close them off around 6 p.m. If there aren't problems with protesters after the first day, he said, the barricading plan might be abandoned.

Asked if he's consulted with the Nez Perce Tribe about blocking turnouts its members use to exercise their ancestral fishing rights, Albrecht said no. He also said Emmert hadn't consulted with the Forest Service, which operates a rest area along the route; Albrecht said he wasn't sure that was required.