For a couple of winters, The Leader counted transport trucks on Hwy. 88 and occasionally also on Hwy. 2. It gave an idea of the traffic, but not much changed in those two years, so we stopped doing it.
But lately we’ve been hearing stories about the large amount of oil that’s being shipped by tank truck out of the Marten Hills. So on a cold, windy and snowy day last week, we did another 15-minute count, at the intersection of Hwy. 88 and 2.
Conclusion: it’s about the same as it was two years ago.
Heavy haulers coming or going on Hwy. 88 numbered 18. On Hwy. 2 exclusively, only five were counted.
Of the 18 using Hwy. 88, eight were log haul trucks, five were tank trucks and five were in the ‘other’ category. The five using only Hwy. 2 were two log trucks, one tanker and two others.
Extended over a 12-hour day, and assuming the rate remains roughly the same, those numbers translate to 864 heavy truck trips on Hwy. 88, and 240 on Hwy. 2.