TETON COUNTY — North Central Montana producers and operators of Mountain View Co-op's Collins terminal are raising concerns about a narrow stretch of road leading into the facility.
“You know we believe that road is a safety concern,” said Jake McFarlin, Mountain View Co-op Grain Division Manager.
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The full-service terminal sees thousands of trucks a year. Lately, it’s been tough to get there.
“If someone goes off of that road, there's enough road crown that we could have someone injured very badly and a truck rolled over,” said Teton County farmer Cody Blanchet.
Blanchet is a fourth-generation farmer referring to a 0.3 mile stretch leading into the terminal.
Blanchet says a couple years ago a road crew laid asphalt millings down to improve the pothole ridden road.
It’s not the condition of the road that’s concerning, but the width.
Blanchet and others used a tape measure to show that in parts, the road is about 18 feet wide. Most semis that haul product to the facility are about 8.5 feet wide. Stakeholders who depend on the terminal fear that when trucks are going east and west, that could add up to disaster.
The probability of peril rises during harvest season when the number of trucks increase.
“About 4,000 of those trucks happen during harvest,” said McFarlin, who added that most of the business comes in from the east side of the terminal.
“That's both ways. So that 4,000 trucks is really 8,000 passes across that road in that four-week span,” said McFarlin.
Safety is a major issue, and so is producer livelihood.
“If this road shuts down during harvest, many producers are going to be in a bad position,” said Blanchet.
“I've talked to producers that don't want to haul to this facility because of the nature of that road,” said McFarlin.
Gary Cheek is a driver for Wilbur-Ellis and expressed his concerns while hauling to the Collins Terminal.
“It’s so narrow you can hardly pass two trucks on it,” said Cheek.
MTN requested an on-camera interview with Teton County Commissioners, but instead received a written statement saying, “The county is aware of the problem and is working towards a solution.”
“Their (Teton County) primary problem is funding,” said McFarlin. “We see that and we don't necessarily disagree with that issue. But this is this is pretty important.”
The county placed a “narrow road” sign on both ends. They also added reflector posts to warn drivers. But Blanchet says that might not last long.
“There's other large farm equipment that travels this road to access our fields, to plant our crops,” said Blanchet. “Harvest machines that need to be going down this road can't make it through.”
Blanchet feels the small section of road is part of a greater issue throughout the area which a road levy might help, but for now it’s time to get creative.
“At some point it is not going to be passable for all of us producers to deliver our commodities to this elevator,” said Blanchet.
