Plan Points Idaho In Right Direction

An old saying in the Coeur d’Alene area goes: “There’s no good roads to Worley.”

Former Idaho Gov. Cecil Andrus might have been thinking of the narrow, twisty portion of U.S. Highway 95 between the two North Idaho towns when he contemptuously dubbed the highway “the goat trail.”

Or he might have pictured the broken, patchwork ribbon of asphalt that ties Sandpoint and Bonners Ferry together. Or the shoulderless roadway that meanders through the Palouse inviting head-on collisions. Or any of an endless number of spots that make U.S. Highway 95 a deplorable deathtrap to be avoided if possible.

Cautious motorists traveling between Coeur d’Alene and Lewiston often drive through Spokane to connect with U.S. Highway 195 - rather than use the goat trail. When traveling to Boise, only the lion-hearted or those in no particular hurry choose the Highway 95 “scenic route” over safer, faster Washington alternatives.

For too long, the Legislature has ignored pleas by Andrus and others to fix the 400-mile highway, which tends to divide rather than unite Idaho. But the price tag was too high: $300 million.

Now, however, the Coeur d’Alene Chamber of Commerce has proposed an intriguing idea to finance reconstruction of the entire road. Incredibly, it won the unanimous endorsement of the House Transportation and Defense Committee Thursday and now is headed for a full House vote.

The proposal, modeled after Coeur d’Alene’s successful project to improve Ramsey Road and Government Way, calls for a statewide bond election. The bonds would be paid off with a 3-cent gas tax hike and a $10 increase in vehicle registration fees.

The tax and fee increases would end when the bonds are paid off - in 15 years or less. During that time, all the other money - typically $19 million a year - that Idaho normally spends on Highway 95 repairs would be freed up for other projects around the state.

The proposal calls for bringing all of Highway 95 to a standard 34-foot width, with guardrails and passing lanes, and for straightening dangerous curves.

Presently, the highway is considered so deadly that one of the region’s largest trucking firms, Swift Trucking of Lewiston, is routing its trucks through Oregon and Washington. That costs Idaho $312,000 annually in lost taxes.

Although Highway 95 makes up just 1 percent of Idaho’s roads, it’s responsible for 10 percent of the state’s traffic fatalities.

There’s something for everyone in this proposal.

North Idaho gets an improved transportation system that would attract Canadian tourists. Truckers destined for the Port of Lewiston get a safer drive. So do motorists. And the whole state gets a bona fide roadway that will tie its northern and southern halves together.

Idaho’s economy follows its roads. It’s past time to fix the “goat trail.”

, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = D.F. Oliveria/For the editorial board