Temporary traffic
signal considered for East Fork
"There’s
a lot to be said for aesthetically pleasing projects."
Chuck
Carnohan, senior
environmental planner, Idaho
Department of Transportation
By TRAVIS
PURSER
Express Staff Writer
To solve
traffic problems caused by construction at the intersection of East Fork
Road and Highway 75, about five miles south of Ketchum, "right now,
we’re looking at putting up a temporary signal," says Idaho
Department of Transportation engineer Devon Rigby.
Safety at
the intersection and design options for medians on the new highway section
were the two major topics of discussion among Rigby, highway department
senior environmental planner Chuck Carnohan and the Blaine County
Commissioners on Monday.
Commissioner
Mary Ann Mix said she has received phone calls from motorists complaining
about near-accidents occurring due to poor visibility at the intersection.
Rigby said
the IDOT has a signal stored in Shoshone, but getting the signal to work
properly in the congested construction area might be a problem.
In any
case, he said, the IDOT should complete its work at the intersection in
August.
Commissioner
Dennis Wright blamed the problem in part on impatient motorists.
"If
they [would be] willing to give up 20 seconds of their day until there’s
a proper gap" in traffic, he said, then the problem might be
alleviated.
Concerning
the median, which would be constructed at four sections from Alturas Drive
to Timber Lane, IDOT planners proposed four designs. The designs offer
depressed or ground-level medians with native vegetation, rock, asphalt or
some combination of those elements.
The
commissioners favored a ground-level median with earth-colored asphalt
that could be textured to resemble cobbles. The 14-foot-wide median would
allow emergency vehicle travel.
"There’s
a lot to be said for aesthetically pleasing projects," said Carnohan,
especially in the Wood River Valley’s tourist economy where an
aesthetically pleasing highway could "pay back in dividends."
Rigby said
the first stage of the overall construction project should be completed by
Aug. 1. By then, traffic should be moved back to the east side of the
highway and half of the new bridge should be completed.
Mix said
the highway curve near the East Fork intersection will be banked at a 2
percent grade.
IDOT plans
to demolish the old bridge and complete the project in spring 2002.