Submitted by Ken Watts
There will likely be another meeting on US 20 design alternatives (Ashton to SH 87) in May of 2022. Ken’s Korner has provided information to help you prepare for this meeting and support the alternatives you want. This project will cost 10’s of millions of dollars to design, build, and work through the NEPA process. The design year is 2050. This is 28 years into the future. There is a lot of time to consider alternatives and get it right the first time. One thing you should ask for, as tax payers, is the completion of a multi-year traffic study that is based on real measured data, not on fudge factors, computer programs and incomplete data. ITD has already down-selected to 22 alternative highway designs. You were not involved in this process nor were our elected officials. Ken’s Korner asked for the alternatives list but was told it would be available at the meeting in May. How can we prepare for the meeting if we do not know the alternatives chosen for us by ITD? Ken’s Korner has filed a public records request with ITD, requesting all information associated with ITD’s down-selection meeting. State law requires that this information be provided in a timely manner. You will be kept informed on the progress of this request. You need this information to be an informed citizen and debate alternatives. So what highway design do you want? Consider the following: Is a no build option best at this time or maybe a modified no build design where a passing lane is added or an intersection is slightly modified to reduce congestion on the peak traffic days? Remember traffic volume on US 20 is low most of the year and most hours of the day. Let’s another question. Why should we oppose a four lane, high speed, limited access road in Island Park? Here are some answers for you to consider: it will divide our community, result in high speeds, result in wildlife overpasses, there will be fewer access points to businesses, there will be difficulty crossing the four lane for ATVs and snowmobiles, may result in bypassing IP in some areas and result in loss of business, much more environmental damage will be caused by four lanes including more damage to wet lands, imagine the environmental damage when building four lane bridges at multiple river crossings (premiere fly fishing rivers), there could be a negative impact on Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout, there will be a much, much higher initial cost, there will be higher maintenance costs, there will be higher snow removal costs, you will lose the historic “Longest Main Street in America”, etc. I am sure you can think of many more reasons to oppose a four lane, high speed limited access highway through Island Park and the greater Caldera. There will be a Republican candidate forum in Island Park on May 5th. Ask each of the candidates if they will support your interests and represent you and the solution that Island Park wants for the US 20 highway design.
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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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