Highway 95 Repairs Hit Senate Pothole For Second Year, Measure To Improve State’s Major North-South Route Is On Short End Of A Close Vote

Sen. Jack Riggs’ plan to ask Idaho voters whether to fix Highway 95 fell just a few votes short Friday, dying on a 38-31 vote in the House. All but two legislators from the 10 northern counties voted for the bill. Reps. Jim Stoicheff, D-Sandpoint, and Frank Bruneel, R-Lewiston, were the exceptions.

The bill asked voters whether Idaho should double registration fees on newer cars and trucks to pay for specific safety-oriented improvement projects on Highway 95 and four other key routes around the state.

“I’m cheap,” Stoicheff said.

“Those were pretty steep jumps.”

Plus, he said, “We’re not getting the interstate truckers and the Canadians.” Bruneel said a gas tax increase, rather than higher registration fees, would have been a better option. Then people who drive through from out of state would help pay, he said.

Riggs said, “It’s disappointing, but I think we made a lot of progress this year.”

He piled up a long list of endorsements for the plan from various business and lobbying groups. And Riggs said legislators are more aware now of the problems on the state’s north-south route.

“I certainly will be speaking with Dirk Kempthorne during the campaign,” he said. “I hope that he makes it a priority during the campaign, so the Legislature can address it next January.”

U.S. Sen. Kempthorne is running for governor.

He’s also a college buddy of Riggs.

“We’ve talked about Highway 95 quite a bit. I know he sees needs there, and hopefully will be receptive to developing something that can address it long-term,” Riggs said. Rep. Hilde Kellogg, R-Post Falls, the House sponsor of the bill, said just after the vote: “I did the best I could - that’s all I can do.”

“It won’t die - we’ll be back,” she said. “I don’t know what we’ll do, but we’ll do something.”

Kellogg sponsored a giant bonding plan to fix Highway 95 from end to end last year.

The $300 million proposal passed the House, but died by one vote in a Senate committee.

Rep. Don Pischner, R-Coeur d’Alene, said 186 people have died or suffered major injuries in the past two years on the five routes singled out in the bill for improvement projects.

If the routes aren’t improved, he told the House, “if you served out your terms here under term limits, about 800 people would die.”

Noting that the Legislature has enacted a controversial move toward allowing heavier trucks in the state, Pischner said, “If you do want big trucks in North Idaho, one way to get ‘em there is to get us the roads to handle them.”

Rep. Jeff Alltus, R-Hayden, told the House: “I don’t know how to say this, so I’ll just say it: Hey, we fixed your roads in southern Idaho, help us fix ours.” A chorus of no’s and hisses spread across the House floor as Alltus added: “I’ve driven around southern Idaho - the roads are great. … Just give us a shot at putting this on the ballot and letting the people decide.”

Opponents said the bill was the wrong way to go about fixing the roads. “I have problems in my area, you have some problems in yours,” said Rep. JoAn Wood, R-Rigby.

“We have a good (transportation) department over there that tries to be fair in how they distribute the money around the state.” Rep. Golden Linford, R-Rexburg, said, “Just as Highway 95 is less than a desirable route to get to a destination, an advisory vote is a very poor route.”

“This is not a north-south question,” he said. “It’s a question of what is the best way to make policy on how we distribute the funds.” Alltus commented, “I guess I have to wonder, what are we afraid of? Are you afraid the people in your district might vote no, or might vote yes?”

Some opponents cautioned that a “no” vote from the electorate could hamstring future efforts to fix the roads.

Rep. Ruby Stone, R-Boise, said, “I am concerned about our senior citizens and those who are not able to pay this.”

Kellogg responded, “All this concern about poor little widows - I am a 79-year-old widow, and I drive through three states to get here. And I wouldn’t mind paying that fee if I could have a better road.”

Pischner said the bill’s death could be “a blessing in disguise,” and that he hoped for some action soon to fix the road. “It certainly generated a lot of comments,” he said.

, DataTimes