Submitted by Ken Watts
Approximately 70 members of the Island Park/Fremont County community met twice to discuss a design solution for improvements to US 20 Ashton to SH 87 near the Montana border. A decision was made to form a proposal committee. 17 members of the community agreed to be on the committee. The proposal was developed over several months and is about 50 pages long. It is not practical to publish the entire proposal in the Island Park News. However the executive summary from the proposal can be published for your use and information. Ken’s Korner is publishing a 3 part series that will contain the entire executive summary. The entire proposal is being sent to decision makers in the area and the State and will also be sent to news outlets across the State. The following is the third part of the series: 1.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Recreation is the economic engine for Island Park. However, this purpose/need does not require a 4 lane freeway. A freeway would cause environmental and economic damage to the area. Idaho should not spend $700,000,000 of vital State highway funding for a four lane freeway over build that will primarily benefit Montana trucking and the National Park Service/Yellowstone National Park/West Yellowstone, Montana while risking very significant environmental and economic damage in the State of Idaho. The residents of the greater Island Park area adamantly oppose a four lane freeway. They support a Super 2 highway design because the environmental and ecological risk to the area is much reduced. The economic risk to the area is also much lower if the highway stays within the current footprint. Studies done in several states indicate that Super 2 highways reduce accidents by nearly 50%. When coupled with the existing low accident rate, a Super 2 highway would have a very low accident rate. The community has considered several solutions for the various intersections located in the Island Park area. It is proposed that improvements to the intersections be done in a phased approach with simple improvements such as right turn merge lanes at the busier intersections done as early as 2023. Near term improvements would be the addition of traffic signals, roundabouts, or compact overpasses at the busier intersections within the next five years. Intersection improvements should be prioritized based on community needs. The community supports the current US 20 Ashton to SH 87 highway improvements that are being done by ITD. These improvements are: tree cut back, rumble strips, wider shoulders, wider stripes, more signage, and left turn arrows. These improvements should be augmented by additional improvements such as solar lighting at wildlife hot spots, merge lanes, deceleration lanes, and more message boards to enhance safety. There are many community opinions on setting speed limits on US 20 Ashton to SH 87. The one shared opinion is that speed limits should be reduced and enforced. The community does not support the 85th percentile method of setting the speed limit. In this method, the most reckless drivers/speeders set the speed limit. Nationally this method is falling out of favor. Safety should be the basis for setting speed limits, not mobility. There is growing evidence that higher speed causes more accidents. Lower speeds, that are enforced, would reduce wildlife vehicle collisions. In 2018, The Fremont County Board of County Commissioners passed Resolution 2018-13 which speaks to the need and support for reduced speed limits and demands coordination between relevant state and federal agencies and the county for all future highway design concepts. Such high level coordination has not occurred in the US 20 PEL. The community adamantly opposes a four lane freeway in the Island Park area and supports a Super 2 (passing lanes) design. A Super 2 highway design provides additional safety, attains the required level of service for two decades and beyond at a greatly reduced cost. US 20 Ashton to SH 87 has low traffic volume most of the year. It would be fiscally irresponsible for the Idaho Transportation Department Board to consider construction of a four lane freeway which would cost over $700,000,000 when a much lower cost option is available. The funding can be better spent in locations where there is high traffic volume throughout the year and the benefits go primarily to Idaho.
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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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