Wednesday, June 4, 2008

East Fork Road discussion to resume

Public meeting in Hailey set for 3:30 p.m., Monday, June 9


By JASON KAUFFMAN
Express Staff Writer

Blaine County Commissioners have set aside a portion of their public meeting in Hailey next week to discuss proposed road construction scheduled to take place on the East Fork Road as early as this summer.

Under plans unveiled by the Idaho Transportation Department during a contentious meeting last week, the first few miles of the main two-lane road that leads up the valley of the East Fork of the Big Wood River east of state Highway 75 would be reconstructed to wider federal standards. When complete, the road would include two 11-foot vehicle lanes for traffic traveling in both directions as well as two 5-foot bike paths, one on each side of the road.

But, because of the intense emotions the proposal elicited among some members of the public last week, the County Commission has decided to discuss the project at 3:30 p.m. next Monday, June 9. The discussion will be a part of the commission's regular weekly meeting, which has been rescheduled from its normal day on Tuesday, and will be held in the upstairs meeting room at the Old Blaine County Courthouse in downtown Hailey.

The current controversy stretches back to a meeting held by the county in September 2003 where county officials claim the public was adamant about having bicycle lanes included as part of the roadway reconstruction project.

"That was pretty well the consensus of the meeting," Blaine County Road and Bridge Superintendent Dale Shappee said.

Shappee has been a part of the East Fork Road planning process since it began in the late 1990s.

Attendees at last week's meeting, most of whom are residents along the contested East Fork Road, dispute the notion that there was a preference for the bike lanes. They claim the county made the decision to widen the proposed road construction project on their own.

Speaking Tuesday, Commissioner Tom Bowman said the meeting will be held to "try to ferret out the facts and truth" that came out of the earlier 2003 meeting.

Due to the proposed widening of the road, project planners say it will have to be raised at least two feet higher. This would in turn require many of the entrances to private homes along the roadway to be raised up, thereby creating steeper entry and exit points.

The project area extends from the east side of the bridge over the Big Wood River to just east of the entrance of Ranch Lane onto the East Fork Road. The East Fork Road extends higher into the Pioneer Mountains and deadends on Sawtooth National Forest land west of Hyndman Peak and several other popular summits in the range.

Local residents said the steeper entrances to their homes would create a dangerous situation, particularly during the winter when icy conditions make accessing the road difficult.

The county hopes to have ITD officials as well as representatives of the engineering firm that designed the project present during Monday's discussion of the project.




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