We’re looking forward to seeing the State Highway 75 Corridor
Study due to be finished in the coming months.
CH2M Hill, a private engineering firm, is producing the study at the
direction of the Idaho Department of Transportation.
The study will be key in future decisions about the highway.
If the study is to paint a true picture of the highway, it must contain
more than the design plans and options for shoulder colors we’ve seen to date.
The study should acknowledge that there is more to transportation
planning than simply designing a bigger highway to allow more cars to arrive in Ketchum
faster. It should acknowledge that major changes in the highway will have ripple effects
on residents, visitors and businesses.
Before valley residents can decide what kind of highway they want, they
need to understand how the highway is being used now. A good corridor study should analyze
the types of traffic on the highway: visitors, parents shuttling kids, drivers going to
work and construction/landscaping vehicles.
Such information would help valley communities wisely plan development
of community attractions and to develop programs that could reduce the number of cars on
the road.
For example, having a public swimming pool available in the north
county might reduce traffic in the summer. Or, it might be worthwhile to develop car-pool
systems to reduce commuter traffic.
The study should also offer information about highway safety
There’s a widespread assumption that more lanes mean a safer
highway. The engineers should include any information about that, both pro and con.
The study should answer the obvious questions about different
scenarios.
Will more lanes of traffic be safer in winter when painted lines are
often covered by snow? Or will more lanes make drivers overconfident and result in bigger
accidents?
Will more lanes make the highway safer than simply lowering the speed
limit?
Will building more lanes be cheaper than beefing up enforcement of
traffic laws, including the ones against tailgating?
Are highways with lanes separated by landscaped islands safer or more
dangerous than those with painted lines?
The study also should look at other factors that will affect the amount
of traffic on the highway.
It should look at existing studies of parking in Ketchum to get some
idea of when downtown parking may fill up.
It should look at the number of cars forced on to the highway for short
trips between subdivisions.
It should compare the cost of expanding the highway to the cost of
expanding the KART bus system to operate valley-wide at peak hours.
A well done and well researched study will help residents evaluate how
a larger highway will change the character of valley life and to determine whether the
inevitable tradeoffs are worth it.
