For the week of June 12 - 18, 2002

Opinions needed

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Valley residents have two chances to help sculpt the shape of life in the Wood River Valley this week. Meetings will address the future design of State Highway 75, the valley’s traffic artery, and future recreation facilities for the valley.

Good transportation and recreation are key to healthy communities. They can be done well, or they can be done poorly. How they will turn out depends in large part on public participation and concern.

Highway design and construction will have widespread effects on the valley’s quality of life and economy for years to come. So will any decision to pursue construction of new recreation facilities.

It’s important for people to become involved in the process or risk waking up to find unexpected and possibly unwelcome changes in their communities.

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Today, design options for expansion of Highway 75 will be on display for public comment from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. upstairs at the old Blaine County Courthouse.

After nearly two years of meeting with local leaders, eliciting driver opinions, and projecting future population and land use, this is where the rubber will begin to meet the road.

Drawings for the entire 27-mile section—four lanes plus optional turn lanes, bike lanes and landscaping—will be on display.

Participants will be able to mark up the drawings with comments. Highway planners say the comments and suggestions will be used to craft ways to minimize the impact of a new highway, as required by federal law.

We hope the conceptual cross-sections and aerial views of various highway segments will be accurate and easy to examine. We hope the designs will show accurate widths of the various plans—with turn lanes, shoulders and landscaping—and where they will fall within or beyond the existing public right of way.

We also hope, that unlike the last highway open house, that planners will be available to answer questions and provide materials to people who attend throughout the scheduled time. It’s important that the public have the full attention and consideration of the planners, even if people arrive in the last half-hour of the open house.

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The Blaine County Recreation District will unveil recommendations for future recreation facilities in an open house on Tuesday, June 18, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

The district has put together a 10-year plan for valley recreation facilities. The district has fulfilled its two original missions: to construct a bike and pedestrian trail from Ketchum through Bellevue, and to construct a community swimming pool in Hailey.

The district also organizes recreation programs, primarily in Hailey.

The district needs to know where the public wants it to go from here. Options range from taking care of existing facilities and programs to providing more parks, more trails, more programs and new community recreation centers. One option may be a new public golf course near Hailey.

The district needs to know what you think. Other open houses will be held in Ketchum on June 25 at the Atkinson Park Recreation Center from 5:30-7:30 p.m., and in Carey on July 18 at City Hall at 7 p.m.

 

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