Paul Thomas Richards Proposed High-Speed Freeway Threatens
Northern Rockies’ Wildlife Linkages from
Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem to
Greater Glacier/Bob Marshall Ecosystem
By Paul Richards
Many westerners are familiar with Highway 69, the scenic rural route that runs alongside the Boulder River, between the Elkhorn Mountains and Bull Mountain from Boulder to Cardwell. The Boulder Valley is one of Montana’s most beautiful drives, filled with abundant wildlife and breathtaking scenery.
This pastoral scene is gradually turning into a nightmare. Canadian truckers, fully aware that law enforcement on Highway 69 is minimal at best, drive in convoys at speeds up to 85 mph, endangering all local traffic.
For almost 10 years, Boulder Valley residents have petitioned the Montana Department of Transportation (MDOT) for a safer Highway 69. We have asked for:
* A pedestrian walkway and bicycle path along the highway’s current route;
* Safe crosswalks at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds, Boulder Hot Springs, and other frequently utilized junctions;
* Retention of the valley’s lush aspen and cottonwood;
* Underpasses or overpasses for elk, deer, moose, bear, pronghorn and other wildlife;
* A full-time truck weighing station;
* Lower speed limits for the safety of vehicles, trucks, pedestrians, ranchers and their equipment, bicycles, wildlife and livestock, and
* Strict enforcement of these lower speed limits.
In early 2005, we submitted an official “Citizens’ Alternative” to MDOT Director Jim Lynch and MDOT Butte Division Administrator Jeff Ebert. “MDOT is legally bound to offer a wide range of alternatives,” we wrote. “Any public meetings to discuss alternatives need to have the above alternative before it for consideration.”
MDOT’s response was swift and deadly. At a June 1, 2005, hearing, MDOT presented its “nuclear option” — a new high-speed freeway to be built on the river’s east bench — a stake right through the hearts of all Boulder Valley ranches.
Legally, according to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), this was a “scoping” hearing, where MDOT was supposed to receive public comments concerning features we wanted for Highway 69.
But, there was no “hearing.” MDOT never asked what we wanted. And, MDOT never mentioned our “Citizens’ Alternative.”
Instead, MDOT told us that its already-approved “preferred alternative” for a new high-speed international highway corridor was a fait accompli.
Needless to say, MDOT’s circumvention of NEPA, its premature and illegal designation of a “preferred alternative” without any public input; the agency’s violation of state and federal public participation and environmental protection mandates; and its devastating “nuclear option” did not go over particularly well.
More than 100 Boulder Valley residents at the 2005 “hearing” unanimously shouted “NO!”
Now, flash ahead five years to MDOT’s March 23, 2010, hearing. Due to steadfast community opposition, MDOT finally announced it was abandoning its “nuclear option.”
However, in the years between the 2005 and 2010 hearings, NONE of the concerns expressed by area residents have been addressed!
Even though more than 200 residents signed petitions requesting the pedestrian walkway and bike path and even though MDOT promised us in writing in 2008 they would explore this proposal, MDOT did not mention it.
MDOT did not mention safe crosswalks, truck weighing station, lower speed limits, and enforcement of speed limits. On questioning, MDOT said it would take an act of the Legislature to lower vehicular speeds to make our neighborhood safer. That is absolute nonsense.
Instead of strictly-enforced lower speed limits, MDOT actually told us it wants to “speed up” Highway 69, so Canadian truckers can drive faster and get home sooner to spend more time with their wives and kids!
MDOT did not mention wildlife collisions, although the agency’s own in-house data are overwhelming. MDOT refused to discuss underpasses and overpasses, even though studies have deemed them biologically critical to maintain existing wildlife corridors and linkages from the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem to the Greater Glacier/Bob Marshall Ecosystem.
MDOT told us “we have to design this highway for morons” who drive too fast for road conditions!
Montana’s magnificent Boulder Valley and the priceless wildlife corridors it provides need your help!
Using the contact information provided below, please tell MDOT that:
1. You support the bicycle and pedestrian path, with well-marked crossings;
2. You support wildlife underpasses and overpasses;
3. Flashing signs alerting motorists to crossings and reduced speed limits have proven effective in Montana’s wildlife-rich Bitterroot Valley on Highway 93, Gallatin Valley on Highway 191, Clark Fork Valley on Highway 200, and Mission Valley on Highway 93 — MDOT must do this in the Boulder Valley on Highway 69;
4. Since the Boulder River is officially “impaired,” MDOT cannot contribute further to its “Total Maximum Daily Loads” or “TMDLs.”
5. Highway 69 is a rural state route, not a U.S. Highway or an Interstate Highway;
6. Highway 69 is not designed for high-speed truck traffic, nor should it be;
7. Nearby and parallel Interstate 15 is the north-south freeway specifically designed for high-speed truck traffic;
8. If MDOT continues its misguided, NAFTA-driven efforts to convert Highway 69 from a pastoral rural route into a high-speed freeway for international truck traffic, the agency must first prepare a full Environmental Impact Statement.
9. The Boulder Valley is a community of sane people that doesn’t need “morons” driving through it at unsafe speeds; and
10. Give Boulder Valley residents, ranchers, kids, pedestrians, bicyclists, and wildlife a brake!
To comment, title your comments “Boulder South EA,” submit them on-line at: http://www.mdt.mt.gov/mdt/comment_form.shtml and http://governor.mt.gov/contact/commentsform.asp ; e-mail them to jebert@mt.gov ; dwambach@mt.gov ; snicolai@dowlhkm.com ; jilynch@mt.gov ; and bbrosten@mt.gov ; and/or snail-mail them to:
Boulder South EA
DOWL HKM
P.O. Box 1009
Helena, MT 59624.
Provide your contact information and ask MDOT to keep you posted concerning all stages of this project and all subsequent projects concerning the Boulder Valley and Highway 69 .
Thank you!
____________________________________________________________________
Dispatches from the Wildlands™ ©2010, Paul Richards
Paul Richards is a Helena native, Boulder area businessman, former member of the Montana House of Representatives, and former candidate for U.S. Senate. For further information, contact him at: 30 Brown’s Gulch Road, Boulder, MT 59632, or by e-mail at: Paul@PRMediaConsultants.com .
Editor’s Note:
Different versions of this piece have appeared in the:
1. (Butte) Montana Standard, located at: http://www.mtstandard.com/news/opinion/columnists/article_50f70b0e-49a6-11df-9d2c-001cc4c03286.html
2. (Helena, MT) Queen City News, located at: http://www.queencitynews.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=11387&mode=flat&order=0&thold=0
3. Boulder (MT ) Monitor. No Internet posting–no URL.
