Hailey scoffs at by-pass, considers other options

Bypassing Hailey’s Main Street with an alternate highway route does not sit well with the Hailey City Council.

At a special roundtable meeting called Tuesday to discuss Highway 75 corridor issues, council members made it clear they were in support of keeping the highway on Main Street.

The entire Wood River Valley is outgrowing its main thoroughfare, Highway 75. The Idaho Transportation Department is studying ways of improving the highway, including possible widening, signal installations and other traffic-calming devices along the corridor. The ongoing ITD study is expected to continue through 1999.

"I’d rather keep it the way we have it, move traffic through the downtown, slow the vehicles down, and make sure pedestrians have safety," said Hailey Mayor Brad Siemer.

That presents a challenge for the council, which must reconcile ever-growing traffic on Main Street with its desire to maintain a pedestrian-friendly atmosphere downtown.

Councilman Scott Basolo cited a recent study completed by an independent engineering firm that counted over 14,000 cars moving northbound through Hailey via Main Street during one 24-hour period. Basolo expressed concern about pedestrians crossing at both the Elm and Cedar Street intersections.

Traffic on Main Street is both a blessing and a curse for a city trying to bolster its core of downtown businesses.

"It’s important to keep the traffic coming downtown," said councilwoman Jennifer Hazard-Davis, who is also manager of Main Street’s North and Company and a member of the Hailey Merchants Group.

Councilwoman Susan McBryant agreed, saying that she had "seen too many small towns in Idaho pretty much turn into ghost towns when a highway bypass goes in."

Furthermore, many Main Street businesses, like North and Company, are still paying for a Local Improvement District (LID) to accommodate traffic and make the thoroughfare more pedestrian-friendly. As part of that LID, gutters were added, sidewalks improved, parking provided, and trees planted.

Many of the vehicles passing through downtown Hailey, Councilwoman Martha Burke noted, want to do just that: pass through the downtown.

"No!" Siemer protested.

That steady flow of motorists determined to get through Hailey poses a challenge to pedestrians, who have to vie with the car cavalry in order to cross Main Street.

"Merchants in Hailey have been screaming for traffic to slow down in the downtown core," said Hazard-Davis. "Nobody’s going 25 miles per hour on Main."

The city of Hailey will be considering traffic mitigation and pedestrian enhancement opportunities at future round- table discussions. Additional signals, four-way stops, new speed zones and sky-walks were discussed as possibilities for Main Street.