Public activist group forms amid concern for Highway 75 expansion

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By KEVIN WISER
Express Staff Writer

Local citizens wary of plans to expand state Highway 75 are taking steps to have those plans reevaluated.

Concern about the Idaho Transportation Department’s proposal to widen the highway to five lanes has led to the creation of a Citizens Transportation Committee.

On Thursday, about 30 people attended a committee meeting at the old Blaine County Courthouse to consider alternative forms of transportation and discuss strategy to insure public involvement in decision making for a major project that would dramatically change the character of the valley.

Chairperson Mary Jane Conger of Ketchum said the purpose of the committee is to create public awareness and put pressure on the ITD and county and city officials to provide the communities of the Wood River Valley with more information about a plan to expand the highway.

"People need to be aware of what’s happening and get involved before it’s too late," Conger said.

Conger said the committee was not formed to work against the ITD, nor was it necessarily against widening the highway to five lanes.

"The committee knows the highway needs to be altered," Conger said. "We’re concerned about making the public aware of the alternatives and options and to get the community involved in the process of designing the highway."

"The committee is pro finding facts," Conger said. "We want to get input from the whole community so the ITD is making decisions based on facts."

Committee member Steve Cook added that "now is the time to speak or forever hold your peace."

The mission statement of the committee is "to work with the ITD, Blaine County and municipalities of Bellevue, Hailey, Ketchum and Sun Valley to insure public education and participation in the designing of Highway 75 and a transportation plan for Blaine County, emphasizing safety provisions and preservation of community character and to insure that short term projects fit in with the long term plan for the highway."

The committee outlined an action plan that includes:

A series of workshops with the ITD, county and city officials, consultants and members of the public.

A request that the ITD provide visuals (photo simulations) of alternatives that would allow the public to view proposed changes in the corridor.

A request for all available safety studies and data from the ITD, to be reviewed by an outside highway design consultant and results to be presented to government jurisdictions and the public.

Promotion of a design that will maintain an appropriate entrance to the Wood River Valley and include an alternative transportation plan.

Committee member Richard Stopol, a log home builder, said that in planning for the highway, the ITD and the community should look at the whole picture.

"An overall transportation plan for the county should come before highway design," Stopol said. "Design should be secondary."

Stopol said the ITD indicated it would widen the highway and then consider alternative forms of transportation. However, Stopol said, "a comprehensive plan for moving people up and down the valley by alternative forms such as mass transit and issues such as parking and staggered work hours should be considered before construction begins.

"Consider the big picture’, then see how widening the highway fits in with the overall transportation plan."

The committee reviewed a letter drafted by the county commissioners that assured the ITD it had the support of the commission and the majority of the community for Highway 75 upgrades. The letter asked the ITD to keep the construction program on schedule.

However, comments made by committee members emphasized the need to proceed with caution.

"If you want to stop construction plans and make the ITD come up with a comprehensive plan first, you need to get the public involved," Stopol said. "The key is letting the ITD know that people are concerned."

Conger said the committee didn’t necessarily want to stop the ITD’s plans, but to slow down the construction schedule to allow time to consider alternatives and options and get the public more involved in the design process.

The committee also discussed the possibility of bringing in an outside highway design consultant as a way to bring in new ideas and provide independent verification of the statistics and proposals presented by the ITD and Boise-based CH2M Hill, a private consulting firm working with ITD.

Cook said an outside consultant could analyze highway statistics and plans for expansion in relation to the character of the valley.

Cook referred to "a whole new revolution of highway planning and solutions to transportation problems for destination resort towns."

"Highway designers of today are reassessing and re-evaluating past traditional approaches to solving traffic congestion," Cook said. "They have found that widening does not necessarily increase highway efficiency or the volume of traffic, nor does it decrease time of travel or increase safety."

The committee proposed a letter writing campaign addressed to the ITD, CH2M Hill and county and city officials. It suggested that letters include a request that a comprehensive transportation plan encompassing the entire valley be drawn up before a plan for highway expansion is made. The committee also suggested that letter writers request drawings and photo simulations illustrating the proposed highway design.

In addition, the committee urged citizens to ask the following questions:

Is there still time to affect the status of the Greenhorn Bridge project, to slow it up and make changes in design? The project is scheduled to begin Oct. 1 with the replacement of the bridge, and to continue next summer with the widening of a 2.44-mile stretch from Alturas Drive to Timber Way.

What property has been identified for right-of-way purchases?

How many fatalities have occurred in existing two-lane sections of the highway?

Are cities willing to fund an independent study to be performed by an outside highway consultant?

Which projects are still in the planning stages and which are a done deal?

What funding is available for buses?

Where have the core proposals being considered for the main streets of Hailey and Bellevue been implemented before?

Can there be more law enforcement on the highway?

The committee will meet weekly for the next month at the following times and places: Tonight, at 6 p.m. at Bellevue City Hall; next Wednesday, Sept. 1, at 6 p.m. at the old Blaine County courthouse; on Sept. 9 at the Ketchum City Hall; and on Sept. 15 at the old Blaine County courthouse. The meetings are open to the public.