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Editorials
For the week of January 10 through January 16, 2001

Path in the nick of time


The Ketchum City Council’s decision to build a bike path on Warm Springs Road over the next two years came in the nick of time.

As one of the city’s main arteries, the road hosts walkers, joggers, cyclists, kids in strollers, on skateboards and scooters—along with cars traveling around 30 mph.

It’s been an accident waiting to happen for many years, yet the need for a separate path went unmet again and again.

The road’s shoulders do double duty as bike lanes and parking areas. Woe to the cyclist who does not observe the driver’s side door of a car about to be opened. The main bridge that crosses Warm Springs Creek accommodates nothing but cars.

Trips across the bridge are harrowing during the busy summer. Even so, the route is popular with visitors exploring Ketchum who often bike in small family packs.

People who bike or walk Warm Springs have stories about close calls with cars on the bridge. People who drive the road have stories of close calls with cyclists, who suddenly found they had no where to go but into a traffic lane as they dodged a deep pothole.

The vote for the bike path was 2-1, with a fourth council member absent. Veteran Council members Dave Hutchinson and Christina Potters came down firmly in support of the path and refused to be de-railed by a potentially cheaper alternative design that would have forced users to cross the busy street twice in order to use the path.

The two council members made a good decision. The new path will save lives and make Ketchum a better place to live and visit.

 

 

 

 

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