If any one thing is mot responsible for having changed the character,
appearance and quality of life in American cities, it’s highways.
Tens of thousands of miles of concrete and asphalt have been ladled out to
accommodate the crush of traffic. Accompanying that construction has been the bulldozing
of ages-old scenic landscapes and relegating quality of human life to an incidental place
behind cars and trucks.
Is that in store for the Wood River Valley, as decisions begin to take
shape for enlarging Highway 75 through one of Idaho’s most famous collections of
environmental and scenic treasures?
Residents who cherish the valley’s lifestyle and environment must
speak out to block unthinking road builders who worship the auto and keep them from
bulldozing through irreplaceable treasures.
Today at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m., two-hour "scoping" sessions will be
held at The Community School in Sun Valley to hear suggestions and objections on the
proposed Highway 75 expansion.
Similar sessions will be held tomorrow at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. in Hailey at
the Wood River High School.
Mind you, Highway 75 is the only thoroughfare that runs through Sun
Valley, Ketchum, Hailey and Bellevue, and as such is Main Street to valley communities.
Growth has forced the discussion of how to deal with traffic that clogs
Highway 75 during morning and evening rush hours.
The more compelling question is whether Highway 75 should be enlarged to
totally accommodate periodic traffic jams while destroying the lifestyle and scenery along
its route in the Wood River Valley.
The family car may be essential in daily living. But it emphatically
should not do to the Wood River Valley what it’s done in hundreds of American
communities where poured concrete has recklessly devoured the environment and annihilated
pleasant lifestyles.
Now is when citizens must speak out.
