In the efforts to rejuvenate and increase tourism for the benefit of Ketchum's commerce and business, it is time to return US highway 93 to its historic place on Main Street in Ketchum. Thirty years ago, Ketchum interests effectively chased US 93 out town, to preserve the town's quaintness and provincialism.
US 93 was and still is a main north-south highway corridor from Arizona to the Canadian border. It used to come from Nevada through Twin Falls, Shoshone, Hailey, Ketchum, Stanley, to Challis, and northward. Then in 1977, the old 2-lane bridge over the Wood River just south of Ketchum had to be replaced and made 4 lanes wide. Horrors! Ketchumites manned the barricades to prevent a widened bridge from bringing hordes of tourists and traffic through Ketchum. (Years lager, tourist-averse barricaders again forced only a 3 lane new bridge south of East Fork.)
The highway department sighed and gave up and rerouted US 93 off its historic and traditional route through Ketchum and went east from Shoshone to Arco and then back to Challis, where it resumed its historic route. It was a 23 mile longer jog and detour just to get around Ketchum's roadblock (bridge-block). The orphaned route, with a new 2 lane bridge south of Ketchum, was redesignated Idaho Highway 75.
It is time for the Chambers of Commerce and the business interests in the Wood River valley to campaign to get highway 93 back on its original track. Bring on those tourists!
Milt Adam
Sun Valley
