So suppose you want to get from Edgemont to Belle Fourche. You'd like to take the scenic route through Custer and Hill City, but you're hauling a heavy load and would like to avoid really big climbs and descents. Which way do you go?
Google Maps offers the following default route:
U.S. 18, U.S. 85, I-90. Newcastle, Sundance, Spearfish, then up. 141 miles. Not bad.
You can shave four miles off the trip by heading east on U.S. 18 to Hot Springs, take 385, then SD 79 up to Rapid City and I-90.
When issuing the overweight permits to Totran Transportation Services to carry some really heavy equipment north to a client who is most definitely not TransCanada and most definitely not associated with the Keystone XL pipeline, the State of South Dakota almost recommended the latter route. They almost got to Rapid City. But then someone in Pierre decided to play what I can only guess is an awful joke:
The Totran trucks had state permits to enter the state on U.S. Highway 18 west of Edgemont and travel a circuitous route along S.D. Highways 79, 44, 73, 34, U.S. Highway 212 and Interstate 90 and exit the state northwest of Belle Fourche, according to Terry Woster, spokesman for the South Dakota Department of Public Safety.
The state chose that route based on the highways that could handle those vehicles and did not advise the truckers to drive through the reservation to avoid fees, Woster said. Basic overweight permits are calculated at a rate of 2 cents per ton per mile, Woster said [Ruth Moon, "Trucks Stopped in Wanblee Not for Pipeline, Company Says," Rapid City Journal, 2012.03.10].
SD 79, 44, 73, 34, US 212, I-90? That route looks something like this:
View Larger Map
386 miles. Yes, the Badlands are lovely, as is the Cheyenne River Valley at Bridger, as is Bear Butte looming up in the distance the whole way west from Larry Rhoden's house.
But almost 250 extra miles, plus cranky Indians? I can only say what I saw on a high-roller's t-shirt in Deadwood yesterday: Uff da!
Mind-bogglingly stupid!
Get me the name of the trucker, his ID number, his original freight document laden list, the buyer and what exactly he was carrying, the comptroller involved in the roundabout tour Cory and I'll ask some questions. Otherwise it is great fodder for a story and possibly a poker in the eye gaff your "High Roller" is telling.
Indian Country Media offers a detailed account of events at Wanblee. Still no clue why this specific route was chosen. Was there a low bridge at Rapid City?
The Catron Blvd. overpass may have been a problem; they might not have had permits for I-90. Spring break-up, ice or slush loading, wind, and poor bridges are amid the hassles going through Wyoming. Pulling the hill at Newcastle from a dead stop is hard on equipment.
'Cranky Indians'?
Well, that's the pot calling the kettle black...considering you're the crankiest liberal I know.
Good to know you can resort to non-Indian American privilege when it suits you. I'm disappointed in you Cory.
Tasi, I'm just imagining the situation from the truck drivers' perspective. And I by no means think the crankiness is unwarranted. I'm still trying to figure out what justifies sending these trucks on this absurdly circuitous route.
Did anyone ask the questions how high (NO)
Did anyone ask about the width (NO)
Did anyone ask about the turning radius it takes
to turn 240 ft of a truck this size one more time (NO)
and about 10 more questions nobody asked