Megaload passing through Sandpoint

SANDPOINT — By the time most locals greet the day today, a megaload shipment should be on its way to Montana.

Assuming all goes well, the megaload should pass through at the earliest around 12:30 a.m., ITD public involvement coordinator Adam Rush said. However, given the unpredictability of moving the massive oil refining equipment, he added the most generous time estimates are probably unlikely.

“It’s likely going to arrive later rather than earlier,” he said.  

It’s been slow going for the megaload, which weighs 1,086,000 pounds when using additional trucks for uphill movement and 926,000 pounds on its own, as it crawls its way across Idaho. A process carried out by permit-holder Bigge Crane, the shipment took a break Tuesday night to allow for highway construction before continuing along U.S. 95 toward Coeur d’Alene Wednesday night. By Thursday morning, the megaload shipment halted near milepost 448 just south of Athol.

“The last couple of days have gone very smoothly,” Rush said.

If shippers follow the plan, the megaload will have entered town this morning through the Long Bridge and continued onto the Sand Creek Byway, circumventing downtown Sandpoint in its path toward Highway 200. Rush said the shipment will come to a stop this morning somewhere near milepost 44 close to the geological pullout site between Trestle Creek and Hope — approximately 37 miles. It will not use the Bridge to Nowhere, instead passing through Hope tonight to avoid the piece of infrastructure. The decision caused some county residents to wonder how the shipment, about 310 feet long and 20 feet wide, will navigate the small town’s streets. Rush, meanwhile, said the shipment has been carefully researched and calculated to consider all aspects of its route.

Since the shipment is restricted to travel between the hours of 10 p.m. and 5:30 a.m., it will stop near the eastern edge of the state Saturday morning. It’s expected to pass through into Montana sometime Sunday-Monday or Monday-Tuesday. The shipment, which carries a portion of a large hydrocracker machine, is bound for an oil refinery in Great Falls, Mont.

ITD’s decision to allow Bigge Crane has been met with criticism across the state. For environmental groups like Wild Idaho Rising Tide, the shipment represents an expansion of the tar sands oil industry.

For many local residents, the massive megaload is a worrying shipment to introduce to local infrastructure, including the Long Bridge and the recently-constructed Sand Creek Byway. They’ve also expressed concern about the timing. Between the Festival at Sandpoint and summer tourism, early-to-mid August is one of the busiest times of the year for Sandpoint.

A group of local protesters spearheaded by WIRT community organizer Helen Yost and Idaho Mythweaver director Jane Fritz met Thursday evening with about two dozen potential protesters. The group worries that with oil refining expanding throughout the region, Sandpoint could become an unwelcome crossroads for more road and rail shipments in the future. Some members are even contemplating being arrested as a form of political protest.

“Democracy is definitely at stake here,” Yost said. “Who came to (citizens) to ask (what we thought) about this?”