Haugan weigh station reopens

HAUGAN – After approximately five months closed down, the Montana/Idaho weigh station on Interstate 90 has reopened after the facility saw a major remodel.

The station, which sits on the Montana/Idaho border, closed down July 29 for the remodel. As of December 6, the construction is nearly complete and the facility has reopened to accept traffic again.

The primary project of the remodel was to install a new, larger scale. According to Pat Metzger, district captain at the station, the facility now has two scales for traffic to use. The scales have also been moved out away from the building a ways. New vault toilets were also added to replace the portable lavatory in use before the remodel.

However, the project is not completely done yet.

Metzger said the final touches would likely not be completely finished until March or April of 2014, after the weather clears. Part of the cause of this delay is from some parts, which were backordered and have held up the installation of other areas of the project.

The work, which still needs to be completed, is the installation of the signal lights and a reader board for drivers to see the truck’s weight at the scale. However, the pole the signal lights will be mounted on was one of the items put on backorder.

Metzger said the other systems could not be installed until the signal lights were in place.

“That’s the big thing,” said Metzger. “The message board, the signal lights and remote readout. They’re all contingent on the pole arriving.”

However, Metzger said the pole was already late on its scheduled arrival. While it could arrive at any time, until then the projects, which require it have been put on hold.

While the remodel is finished, the station is still fully operational. However, it is also understaffed. According to Metzger, over the course of the construction a few workers left. While replacements have been hired, there will still be a gap as the new recruits go off to be trained. In the mean time, operations will continue as normal with the staff on hand.

Metzger said part of the facility’s traffic came from how the Haugan facility is the only one in the state to serve both sides of the line.

The weigh station is operated by the Montana Department of Transportation and sits in the middle divide of the Interstate to take traffic from both directions, another unique feature of the Haugan station. According to Metzger, while the station offers full service to the Montana side of the line, it mostly just provides permits on the Idaho side.

The station helps make sure truckers have obeyed all the rules. Metzger said the station is authorized to give citations on both sides of the state line, though it was rare to give an Idaho citation.

“We do have the authority through Idaho,” he said. “We work both states.”

While it is open, the station may need to close occasionally as the last of the remodel is completed. Metzger said the facility needed to completely close down while work was done.

“When the poles come in, we’ll be closed for that,” he said. “We’ll be closed here and there.”