The Ketchum City Council on Monday heard varying opinions from local residents about the city's proposal to create bike lanes and reduce the speed limit on Warm Springs Road.
The city has proposed creating a five-foot-wide bike lane on each side of the road, in addition to the existing raised bike path, and reducing the speed limit from 30 mph to 25 mph. The road would be widened to either 32 feet or 35 feet from its current width of about 24 feet.
Any widening would require expansion into the city's right of way. Mayor Ed Simon told the 35 people attending the meeting that it is city policy to recapture its right of way throughout Ketchum.
However, Simon said no work will be done on Warm Springs Road this summer and the city will make no decisions until it collects further public comment.
Much of the comment offered Monday supported creation of the bike lanes. Members of the public and city officials agreed that fast-moving cyclists should be segregated from pedestrians and children on the existing bike path. In addition, it was agreed that cyclists should be moving with the direction of traffic on both sides of the road so they are more likely to be seen by drivers pulling out from side streets.
Opinion was divided, however, on the proposed speed limit reduction.
An eight-day-long traffic study of almost 25,000 vehicles, conducted last week, showed that about 85 percent were speeding. However, about 91 percent were within 10 miles per hour of the speed limit.
Still, city officials and many members of the public who spoke viewed that situation as dangerous. But about half of those who commented disagreed that reducing the speed limit would help.
"These are enforcement issues. They aren't speed limit issues," Councilman Baird Gourlay said.
Assistant Police Chief Mike McNeil said the department is down three staff people and cannot currently maintain a constant vigil on Warm Springs Road.
Asked by a reporter whether the fact that a majority of drivers exceed the speed limit indicates that the public would like to see the limit raised, rather than lowered, Simon and Councilman Randy Hall said the city will make its decision on the basis of safety, not public opinion.
If the city decides on the 32-foot-wide option, creation of two five-foot-wide bike lanes would mean that traffic lanes would be reduced by about a foot from their current width of about 12 feet. Police Sgt. Dave Kassner said that reduction should lower speeds.
Another advantage of widening to only 32 feet, rather than 35 feet, is that less additional right of way would be required. To build the road to 35 feet, the city would need to demolish the porch of one house and take out more residential landscaping.
Gourlay suggested that the speed issue be set aside and the bike lanes be constructed this summer. However, his suggestion was not taken up by any other council members or by the mayor.
In other action, the council unanimously approved the preliminary plat for a 12-lot subdivision bounded by Williams Street, Rember Street and Bird Drive. Three of six proposed River Lodges Townhomes duplexes are already under construction there. Subdivision will permit their sale to individual owners.
