Wood River Valley
finally gets its wish—
a 10-lane highway
Super road comes complete with LA-style cloverleafs
"It doesn’t make sense to build a three-, four- or five-lane
highway and then have to come back in 10 or 12 years and have to widen it again,"
Bob Humphrey, senior ITD planner
By KEVIN WISER
Express Staff Writer
A giant slice of California is coming to the Wood River Valley in the form
of a 10-lane highway.
The impressive ribbon of concrete will be constructed from Timmerman
Junction at the valley’s southern entrance to the Sawtooth National Recreation Area
headquarters north of Ketchum.
According to a Highway 75 corridor study released last week by the Idaho
Transportation Department, the new road was patterned after the world’s busiest
commuter corridor—Los Angeles’ Santa Monica Freeway.
Reflecting the Wood River Valley’s burgeoning LA, Bay Area and
Seattle culture, the 10-lane transportation wonder will feature towering urban-style
cloverleaf overpasses. Not to be outdone, however, there’s an add-on: underground
tunnels for pedestrian traffic.
Construction is set to begin this summer with a massive overhaul of the
Greenhorn Bridge, which will be expanded to two decks. This project will be followed by a
10-lane widening of the Alturas Drive to Timber Way stretch.
A special intersection will be constructed for the new St. Luke’s
Medical Center, including a freeway off ramp designed to allow baby boomers unfettered
parking next to the maternity ward.
Construction of the entire corridor is expected to be completed by the
year 2010 at a cost of something over $300 million.
According to the ITD, approximately 60 homes and businesses along Highway
75 will have to be condemned to make way for the 10-lane highway.
Not to fret, senior ITD officials said, since federal money is on the way
to resettle residents in the just-completed 500-unit condo complex in McHanville.
An ITD senior planner said that with projected exploding growth rates in
the Wood River Valley, a 10-lane highway will be necessary to accommodate future traffic.
"It doesn’t make sense to build a three-, four- or five-lane
highway and then have to come back in 10 or 12 years and have to widen it again," he
said.
Highway tolls should help the state pay off the super road by 2050, he
added.
There’s more good news for valley commuters. Environmental red tape
has been waved by Washington to accelerate construction.
But problems remain.
The Ketchum City Council and the Citizens Transportation Committee, a
local highway activist group, have been wary of the ITD’s plans from the beginning.
They’ve raised concerns about the impact highway construction will have on the
character of the valley.
Ketchum Mayor Guy Coles and CTC spokesperson Jan Edelstein said they plan
to file lawsuits to stop the highway’s construction.
If that doesn’t work, Edelstein said the activist group is prepared
to take extreme measures to save the valley.
"If we have to chain ourselves to trees and form human barriers to
stop the bulldozers, then that’s what we’ll do," she said.
