Highway 2 Work Puts Truckers, Mills In Low Gear Unpredictable Road Closures Complicate Travel As State Searches For Alternate Route Between Sandpoint And Priest River

Area lumber mills and trucking companies are fed up with a U.S. Highway 2 construction project.

About 20 industry representatives complained to state highway officials Thursday, saying their businesses are suffering from the daily, unpredictable road closures.

“We all know Highway 2 has to be constructed, but we didn’t expect our economic livelihood to be put in a stranglehold along with it,” said Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce spokesman Shawn Keough.

“We need a firm schedule we can all live with.”

Truckers are getting trapped in twohour traffic delays. The wait wreaks havoc on delivery schedules, mill operations and truckers’ pocketbooks.

“If you are a guy getting paid by the mile or the trip, getting stuck there will put you in a hole in a big hurry,” said Mike Campbell of Ziebel Transport.

To make matters worse, Bonner County’s roads began to thaw this week and load limits are being enforced. The limits ban heavy trucks that can tear up the roads during spring breakup.

That means most commercial trucks, even unloaded ones, won’t be allowed on Dufort Road, which is the only convenient detour around the construction project between Sandpoint and Priest River.

“This is a critical cash flow time for sawmills. If we can’t ship our wood, it’s a problem,” Frank Steenvorden, a Louisiana-Pacific plant manager, told highway officials. “I don’t think you realize what you are doing to us economically.”

The mills did get some help from county Commissioner Steve Klatt. He agreed to relax load limits on Dufort Road so at least empty trucks can use the route.

“The road is already getting hammered to pieces, but we don’t have much choice,” Klatt said.

He’s pushed for the state to declare Dufort an official detour and help pay for repairs to the road.

Idaho Transportation Department District Engineer Tom Baker said the road doesn’t qualify as a detour, can’t handle the heavy trucks and would be too expensive to repair.

Instead, Baker agreed to try to build another detour adjacent to the construction project. That would allow work to continue without stopping traffic.

The state first needs permission from Burlington Northern to use its right-ofway for the temporary road. The railroad already turned down the request once, Baker said, adding the detour would take at least three weeks to build and would be a rough ride.

“We aren’t worried about a rough ride,” Campbell said. “We would drive down the railroad tracks if you let us.”

In the meantime, Baker said the state will try to stick more closely to the scheduled times for traffic to pass, and to schedule more of them.

“The problem is when we are blasting rock it can be unpredictable,” he said.

The state will also install electronic reader boards near Sandpoint and Priest River.

The signs will let travelers know about unexpected delays so they can turn around and take another route.

The $7.3 million construction project will take two years to complete. It will widen and straighten about seven miles of the highway.