The first draft of the “community” proposal for the design of US 20 Ashton to SH 87 has been completed by the proposal committee (17 members of the community). In an effort to inform public about the contents of the proposal, Ken’s Korner is publishing sections of the proposal. It is hoped that you will provide feedback and offer your ideas to the committee so that the proposal can be improved. This week a portion of the section on wildlife is being published for your use. The committee proposed several innovative solutions for the highway design.
“Island Park is home for multiple species of wildlife. Wildlife are resident and transitory within this unique habitat. The Sand Creek Elk herd resides primarily on the west side of US 20, dispersing throughout the Island Park region and in the fall centralizing in and near Harriman State Park to stage to move to the lower desert for the winter season. There is some cross movement of animals near US 20, and rarely a longer journey animal will join a herd and enter Yellowstone, as evidenced in IDFG collar data…….. There is no ancient migratory Sand Hills Elk herd that must navigate across US 20 to complete a yearly migration. IDFG collar data will verify that the majority of the herd remains on the west side of US 20,….. Mule deer do migrate from the lower desert in spring, through Island Park and into the high country in the summer, and return the journey in the fall. The Ashton Hill area is the hotspot area for mule deer when they do this crossing during approximately 3 weeks in both spring and summer….. The following should be considered when looking at wildlife and vehicles:
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Submitted by Ken Watts
Perhaps you heard on the news this past week that the Biden Administration wants to block funding for new highways. Secretary of Transportation, Pete Buttigieg, who manages the Federal Highway Administration, says that highways are smog and climate-change generators. In a memo, FHWA urged staffers not to fund projects that “add new general purpose travel lanes”. Making US 20 Ashton to SH 87 a four lane freeway, would be adding travel lanes. Maybe Secretary Buttigieg is an ally in the Island Park communities’ opposition to the freeway. Ken’s Korner checked the news sources and found an article from the Wall Street Journal that substantiated the reports. A portion of the WSJ article follows: “The Biden Administration is trying to block new infrastructure spending from funding new highways. Thanks to a Senate intervention, major upgrades could be coming to a highway near you—but only if enough lawmakers follow through. The Administration’s plan to restrict new highways began after President Biden signed the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill in 2021. Nineteen GOP Senators backed that spending blowout in hope of bringing home billions of dollars for state projects, specifically roads and bridges. But a month later the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) sent a memo to staffers urging them to deny competitive grants to projects that “add new general purpose travel lanes”—aka new roads. The guidance mimics restrictions that were offered by then-Rep. Peter DeFazio and expressly rejected by a House with a Democratic majority. Senate Republicans challenged the FHWA memo, and last month the Government Accountability Office (GAO) agreed that the guidance was an executive-branch overreach. “We conclude the Memo is a rule,” the GAO said in a report, finding that the policy exceeded the FHWA’s mandate. Reclassifying the guidance as a formal rule means Congress will get a chance to revoke it under the Congressional Review Act (CRA). The stakes are high because the FHWA will award billions of dollars in competitive grants over five years. State officials know that adding highway lanes is often the best way to reduce congestion and boost safety, but they’ll turn their attention elsewhere if the Biden Administration’s rule is left in place. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who oversees the FHWA, thinks highways are smog and climate-change generators, and he defended the restrictions in a Senate hearing last March.” If the FHWA rule is not revoked, it may not even be possible to add passing lanes to US 20 Ashton to SH 87. We would be left with the no build option only. This week the Idaho Department Transportation sent a notice to the public regarding a passing lanes study completed in 2020. This $3,240,000 study, completed by JUB Engineers, approved by the ITD Board, and funded by the tax payer, revealed that passing lanes could be added to US 20 in the Island Park Caldera and meet the necessary level of service for the highway for two decades. Why did ITD release this study to the public now? Why was it withheld from the public for well over a year? Was this very relevant study available to the people/engineers screening the highway design alternatives? It is time for a “do over” of the entire Planning and Environmental Linkages process. The current effort is totally tainted!
On 7-21-22, the Island Park News published an article about this study in an effort to inform the public. The article follows. Alternate Solution In October of 2019, JUB Engineers, Inc. completed a traffic analysis/report for US 20 from Sheep Falls to Island Park Lodge. This report was referred to as the “No Build Analysis”, Part 1. This report referred to Part 2 of the analysis which was to identify “build alternatives”. In layman’s terms, JUB was to identify design improvements to the current highway to improve the level of service (LOS). A member of the Island Park Preservation Coalition requested a copy of Part 2 of the report from the ITD project team, but after some time did not receive the document. The following explanation was received: “ITD has searched their project files for the document you requested, and has not been able to find it. We are not trying to be difficult or hide anything, the report just isn’t in the files. You are welcome to arrange a time to come to ITD's office and look through the project's electronic files yourself. To formalize this request ITD asks that you file a formal public records request. I’m told the scope of work for JUB changed during the development phase of the project so that is likely the reason the document is not in the project files.” A public records request was submitted to the Idaho Transportation Department in Boise and Part 2 of the report was received in a couple of days. Part 2 was dated February 2020. Why should you care about any of this? Because Part 2 reveals that JUB had developed design alternatives/improvements for the current 2 lane highway in Island Park, that would improve the level service until the year 2042. The improvements included adding passing lanes, redesigning turn lanes and access points, and widening the shoulders to improve safety. The report did not reveal what level of service would be achieved by the improvements. However it did say that ITD required a level of service of B for this type of highway. It did reveal that money was limited and that improvements were prioritized. The report stated that accident numbers on this section of highway are below the state average. ITD did not reveal the information contained in Part 2, at any of the “public meetings”. Further the ITD Board approved the alternative solutions in their Board meeting in September 2019. “Adding passing lanes in these locations will fulfill the purpose and need of these projects to improve mobility along the corridor….” The solutions proposed by JUB are very similar to those proposed at an Island Park Community meeting on June 24, 2022. JUB estimates that the “full build” would cost about $105,619,000 in 2019 dollars. This is in sharp contrast to the estimate for ITD’s four lane alternative of up to $700,000,000! Seven times more taxpayer money. Your money! This price is documented in ITD Board meeting minutes. ITD continues their march toward a four lane while a two lane solution would provide an acceptable level of service through 2042. This would allow time for ITD to design (if needed) a two lane bypass “expressway” to Yellowstone that would totally avoid Island Park and preserve our community. This writer continues to be very concerned about ITD not sharing all of their available information with the public. This is a breach of trust that may never be repaired. Submitted by Ken Watts
The first draft of the “community” proposal for the design of US 20 Ashton to SH 87 has been completed by the proposal committee (17 members of the community). In an effort to inform people about the contents of the proposal, Ken’s Korner is publishing sections of the proposal. It is hoped that you will provide feedback and offer your ideas to the committee so that the proposal can be improved. This week the section on traffic/accident studies is being published for your use. This section was chosen because these studies are needed before highway designs can be selected. 3.0 TRAFFIC/ACCIDENT STUDIES The purpose and need for the US 20 Ashton to SH 87 project cannot be properly addressed without current and reliable traffic and accident studies and data. The project must start from this point. ITD must precisely know the traffic patterns (north and south) for the various highway segments before a detailed design can be completed. For example, how many vehicles going north, never reach SH 87? Where do they turn off? Also, how will the upgrade to Yale-Kilgore road affect the traffic patterns? If 50% of the vehicles traveling north stop in Island Park, this changes the highway design. Traffic studies being used by ITD are using data that is many years old, incomplete and taken at the wrong time of year. COVID has caused traffic aberrations that must be accounted for. Therefore, a detailed long term (~5 years) traffic study should be completed by an independent contractor that specializes in traffic studies and has long term experience in doing traffic studies. In no case should this contractor have any involvement in the design and construction of US 20. The resulting study shall be peer reviewed by other independent contractors and submitted to the City of Island Park and Fremont County for review. The study must include recreational vehicle traffic and the numerous recreational vehicle crossings locations. Snowmobile groomer crossings shall also be included. A long term accident study (~5 years) shall be conducted by an independent contractor that has no conflict of interest in regard to the outcome of the study. In no case should this contractor have any involvement in the design and construction of US 20. This study shall consider the effects of current and near term highway improvements. For example, tree cutback, rumble strips, wider shoulders, merge lanes, deceleration lanes, etc. This study should include a detailed analysis of the causes of accidents and mitigation methods and recommendations. It shall be based on the new Safe System Approach to setting speed limits and not the archaic 85% approach.” |
Making Sense of It All
This blog will help you make sense out of all the information on the website, how it affects IP, our history, and how efforts continue to put IP into various forms of conservation status. Archives
May 2023
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