Alternate Route North Needed Now, Not Later

Sat., Dec. 9, 2000

Sandy Clark Special To Handle E

The City with a Heart needs bypass surgery.

Have you noticed that our brand-new, two-lane off-ramp at Interstate 90 and U.S. Highway 95 routinely backs up all the way to the freeway? It often takes three cycles of the traffic light to inch up the Appleway intersection. And then, there are only nine or so more traffic lights until you get to the mall.

Good luck if you are heading to the Coeur d’Alene airport or Sandpoint. The trip that used to take 5 minutes now takes 15 these days. Fourth Street, Government Way and even 15th Street are packed with travelers trying to shave a few minutes off their drive to Hayden and beyond.

Is there anyone out there who doesn’t think that its time to build an alternative route north?

We live in one of the most beautiful places in the United States. The scenery is wonderful. It’s family friendly. And the Spokane airport is only 45 minutes away. No wonder there’s a growing crowd of weekly commuters at the new terminals on Mondays and Fridays.

But, the secret’s out. Kootenai County’s population has more than doubled in 10 years. We had a record number of tourists last year and there’s no end in sight. Recreational and business travelers attracted to The Coeur d’Alene Resort keep coming back for more. And visitors from virtually every state routinely become permanent residents because they can’t resist leaving their traffic and social problems behind.

Our success in creating the type of city everyone envies has caused such rapid growth that it threatens to ruin things for the next generation. Urban sprawl - North Idaho style - has meant crowded main roads, secondary roads and back streets, causing frustration and slower commutes. As to safety, greater numbers of pedestrians and bike riders only add to driver challenges. It’s not a pretty picture.

We have to face reality. Short of having a depression, there is no reason to believe that the county’s growth will abate any time soon. That said, our traffic system is out of date and inadequate to meet the growing demands of more people, more cars, more schools, more businesses and more travel through the county.

But, it’s not too late to make the right sort of choices that can ensure our survival as a nice place to live and visit.

We desperately need an alternative road north, bypassing our only overcrowded route - relieving the pressure on what we already have. As much as we need a fix for all of U.S. 95, adding an extra lane from Appleway to Hayden is not the long-term answer to Coeur d’Alene’s worsening traffic situation.

There are lots of viable alternatives to how we manage the people side of the equation - that is, where will everyone live? We could preserve the prairie as mostly green space and farmland. By zoning, we could force the continuing housing boom to take place in other parts of the county. We could encourage more planned unit developments. But make no mistake, they will come, whether we build it right or not.

Now is the time, before the prairie becomes one giant, sprawling, gridlocked housing development, while land is relatively inexpensive, and while we still have the flexibility, to plan for the growth that already has outstripped our infrastructure.

It’ll take a coalition of professional planners, city and county officials, ordinary citizens, politicians, business leaders, environmentalists, editorial writers and a whole lot of energy to pull this off. This group will have to endure the relentless negativity of no growth-ers, the cynicism of the no-more-growth-ers, (you know the folks who just moved here and want to close the door for anyone else), and the arrogance of the grow somewhere-else-ers.

This is at least “mission difficult” but not “mission impossible.” Building proper roads to support the necessary infrastructure for new houses and businesses is critical to encouraging and managing the right type of growth in Kootenai County. And, the rewards for all of us will be huge. We’ll maintain our family-friendly environment, manage growth responsibly, increase property values and provide a fast lane to Sandpoint, Bonners Ferry and Canada.

Alternatively, we could do nothing and end up having U.S. 95 look like another version of Sprague or Division Streets. We’re smarter than that.

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