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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Eye On Boise

Canyon County representatives say they’re not leaving ‘til there’s a highway bill

Every state representative from Canyon County gathers Wednesday in the Capitol press room to make a public statement that they won't leave this year's legislative session without a highway bill; a major, highly congested stretch of freeway through the county has badly deteriorated.  (Betsy Z. Russell)
Every state representative from Canyon County gathers Wednesday in the Capitol press room to make a public statement that they won't leave this year's legislative session without a highway bill; a major, highly congested stretch of freeway through the county has badly deteriorated. (Betsy Z. Russell)

The entire Canyon County House delegation just came down to the Capitol press room and held a press conference with a message: They want the Senate to approve a highway bill, so the notoriously deteriorating stretch of I-84 in their county can get fixed. “We want a bill out of the Senate on highways, so we can get GARVEE and fix it,” said Rep. Rick Youngblood, R-Nampa. Added Rep. Gary Collins, R-Nampa, “We’re not leaving ‘til we get it.”

Rep. Greg Chaney, R-Caldwell, said, “We couldn’t get home anyway,” and the whole group laughed ruefully.

Reconstruction and widening of the freeway likely would be a $150 million project; it’s one of the GARVEE bonding priority corridors already identified in Idaho law.

“Transportation has been the No. 1 priority since the beginning of the session for the Canyon County delegation,” said Rep. Robert Anderst, R-Nampa. “We don’t want to adjourn without a transportation bill.”

Rep. Christy Perry, R-Nampa, said she’s concerned about the “safety factor,” saying, “I traveled that road last night, and there was an accident when I went through and another one after I went through.”

Rep. Brent Crane, R-Nampa, said, “Negotiations are still taking place, a recently as 10 minutes ago. … They want to do something, we want to do something.”

He said, “The session’s not done yet.”



Betsy Z. Russell
Betsy Z. Russell joined The Spokesman-Review in 1991. She currently is a reporter in the Boise Bureau covering Idaho state government and politics, and other news from Idaho's state capital.

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