Opponents make excellent arguments about the proposed highway bypass along the eastern edge of Sandpoint’s Sand Creek.

They say: The project will destroy aquatic life because three acres of fill will be dumped into wetlands.

Also: The project will create an eyesore for at least three years between the downtown and Lake Pend Oreille.

And: The project will change the quaint nature of Sandpoint’s downtown.

If all three dire predictions turn out to be true, however, the project still has enormous value to the community and motorists who are now forced to zigzag through downtown Sandpoint on crowded, one-way streets. The $45 million Sand Creek bypass will provide a long-overdue way around the emerging town, reducing accidents and traveler frustration. Although we’re sympathetic to the complaints by opponents, like North Idaho Community Action Network, the bypass has been talked to death for decades.

It’s time to break ground and then to monitor this project closely.

In a perfect world, officials for the Idaho Department of Transportation could step back and reconsider alternative routes suggested by opponents, including a west side route rejected overwhelmingly by voters more than a decade ago. But two mitigating circumstances make this a good time to push ahead with the bypass: good interest rates and the rapid population growth in Bonner County. A major delay would push this project further into the future where it would become more expensive and the traffic congestion downtown would grow much worse.

Besides, there’s no guarantee that another route would attract more support than the current proposal. After all, the town has quarreled about a bypass for at least 50 years. Left to itself, with city officials and the chamber of commerce lined up together against environmentalists, Sandpoint could argue about a bypass for another half century. ITD officials deserve credit for picking a route, involving the community in the design process and incorporating suggested changes, such as a bike path and second off ramp.

“The road is going up Sand Creek,” ITD spokeswoman Barbara Babic said last spring. “We’ve worked very closely to have a project that fits into the community rather than forcing the community to fit into the project. That’s why we’ve had such extensive public involvement.”

At this point, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Idaho Department of Lands have to approve various permits.

Although we see the need for the bypass, we hesitate to endorse the project enthusiastically. The transportation department has a history of harming sensitive areas in North Idaho with questionable engineering or mishaps, including Interstate 90 construction in 1990 when a fill area gave way burying fish habitat and sending an earth mover and a bulldozer to the bottom of Lake Coeur d’Alene.

Balanced against each other, the need for a Sandpoint bypass outweighs environmental concerns. But that doesn’t mean the transportation department has free rein to create another mess.