The Highway 75 Improvements Advisory Council has made
progress in its journey down the road toward consensus on the Greenhorn Bridge project.
The Blaine County Commissioners agreed yesterday to pass on a
recommendation from the council to the Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) supporting
construction of a four-lane bridge. The city of Ketchum, however, remains reluctant to
totally support the design recommended by the highway council.
The ITD has stated that if it did not receive a recommendation from local
municipalities by March 1, it would not begin construction on the project this year.
In a statement made to the Blaine County Commissioners yesterday, highway
council members Joanna Ehrmantraut, a Bellevue City Councilwoman, and Hailey Mayor Brad
Siemer recommended construction of a four-lane bridge approximately 68-feet wide, to be
built in two stages. The recommendation also includes a four-lane highway design
throughout the entire Greenhorn Bridge project, which extends 2.5 miles from Alturas Drive
to Timber Way.
A letter from the city of Ketchum proposed a four-lane bridge to be
designed no more than 59-feet in width.
"This design would accommodate four-lanes but could also be
configured into three lanes in the event the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
corridor study concludes that a three-lane or even a two-lane configuration is the most
appropriate design for the rest of the highway," the letter stated. "Ketchum
refuses to agree to any other improvements other than the Greenhorn bridge without full
NEPA analysis as required by law."
"The letter from the city of Ketchum disappoints me," said
Blaine County Commissioner and highway council member Dennis Wright at yesterday’s
meeting. "I thought there was a possibility they would see the error in their ways
and support the recommendation of the highway council. The attempt to gain consensus was
not completely successful."
The highway council, made up of elected officials from jurisdictions along
the Highway 75 corridor, held a workshop on Tuesday of last week at a packed Ketchum City
Hall where locals grumbled that political agendas were complicating the highway planning
process.
The meeting was the second of two workshops held to achieve consensus on
the Greenhorn project, which has been delayed in part due to concerns raised by the city
of Ketchum that the Idaho Transportation Department’s original 82-foot-wide,
five-lane proposal was over-designed.
During last Tuesday’s workshop, the highway council voted 4 to 1 in
favor of the four-lane design for the entire Greenhorn project.
Ketchum City councilman Randy Hall abstained.
Hall said the discussion had not evolved enough since the highway council
agreed to endorse a scaled down, 50-foot, three-lane design in the meeting held last
month.
"I don’t have the authority at this point to make a decision for
the Ketchum City Council," Hall said.
Citing a Highway 75 town meeting held at Wood River High School last
month, Renick said, "We had an initial agreement for four lanes. Now we’re
talking three-lanes. Why?"
The crowd cheered.
Ketchum resident Mickey Garcia shouted, "It’s politics" and
"Power to the people."
"The process should be governed by the majority," Renick said.
"All of a sudden we’re not getting what the majority wants."
Hall responded by saying that part of the problem is that the
environmental study process mandated by NEPA has not been properly carried out.
"We’re concerned about the result of connected actions,"
Hall said. "A comprehensive plan should be done for the entire corridor. All of our
questions have not been answered."
ITD district engineer Devin Rigby said the four-lane, 68-foot-wide bridge
and connecting highway design recommended by the council would be built in two stages,
beginning this fall, at a cost of $939,000.
In the first phase of construction, 48 feet of the new bridge would be
built just upstream of the existing bridge. After the first phase is completed, traffic
would then be switched over to it, the old bridge would be demolished and the new expanse
would be built out to 68-feet. Rigby said that depending on the weather, the second stage
could be built through the winter and into next spring.
The other issue discussed at last Tuesday’s meeting was highway
design and the number of lanes to be built throughout the Greenhorn project.
The consensus for a three-lane design reached at the first highway council
meeting called for spreading traffic out in four-lane sections north and south of the
bridge and then merging it back together to align with the three-lane bridge.
However, Rigby said that narrowing and widening complicates how a highway
works and can lead to congestion and bottlenecks. Rigby recommended a four-lane design not
just for capacity but for consistency.
Following last Tuesday’s vote in favor of the four-lane design for
the Greenhorn project, Siemer reminded the council that highway improvements alone will
not solve the traffic and congestion problems of Highway 75.
"Unless we see a radical departure in trends, the day will come when
these improvements seem inadequate," Siemer said. "We need to get more cars off
the highway."
