Garwood-95 Intersection A Perfect Setup For Tragedy

I have had many close calls on U.S. Highway 95 in the 16 years that I have been driving it. My work has required three to five trips a week ranging from Riggins to the Canadian border.

I could tell you stories that would make your hair curl. Most involve rude drivers too much in a hurry to care about others. This one does as well, but in a different way.

We all know the Garwood-Highway 95 intersection north of Hayden. Those who live near there and use the corner every day held our breath that either ourself or our loved ones would get hit trying to negotiate the intersection.

Well, now the highway department has signalized the corner and it is fixed, right? Wrong. The corner is so underdesigned that it remains a death trap. The lanes are narrow and the curve radius is too tight to negotiate with a trailer behind the vehicle. There is a KOA Campground east on Garwood and many horse trailers in the area, so this is important.

One of the biggest problems now is the huge increase in semi-truck traffic from Canada. In an effort to make better time, a large number of big trucks turn west on Garwood Road and then take the immediate left on the frontage road to Highway 53. The Garwood intersection is not made for doing this. A semi must turn into the oncoming lane to negotiate the turn. That is the first problem. The second problem is the railroad crossing.

Last month I was coming home at about 6:45 p.m. I was heading north from Highway 53 to Garwood Road on the frontage road, the one that goes past the Dumpsters. I saw a truck pulling a large tanker trailer about a quarter-mile in front of me. Then I noticed a train heading north. I could see the bright lights illuminating the trees along the road and track. It was going quite fast. The tanker in front of me speeded up, ran the stop sign at Garwood and the frontage road, and tried to cross the tracks before the train got there.

I stopped my truck well back from Garwood Road, sure that I was going to witness the train hitting the tanker and trailer.

All of a sudden, the tanker driver realized he wasn’t going to make it over the track. He locked his brakes and stopped, seemingly on the track. The crossing arms came down right on the middle of the truck’s cab and the train barreled by within inches of the front of the truck. It was the closest call I’ve ever seen. A fiery holocaust was averted.

As a result of this incident, I asked the Highway Department to consider prohibiting trucks from using Garwood Road as a cutoff to west Highway 53. They said they could not do it. I guess we’ll have to wait until someone is killed by a truck or train, or both, before this common-sense idea can be implemented.

My point is, some of the dangers and problems can be solved by common sense design, signage and requiring the use of the route most suitable for the traffic.

This underdesigned intersection is even more deadly because of mismanagement of traffic. Why is this intersection, a major one on the only north-south route in the state, so underdesigned? The majority of the cost was for the signal equipment. So why are the lanes so narrow?

Many questions, no answers and no accountability.