Flat budget puts off Idaho road projects

Post Falls Mayor Clay Larkin and other elected officials from North Idaho voiced strong opposition Friday to an Idaho Transportation Department plan that postpones construction of some area road projects six years or more.

The agency’s budget has remained flat while road construction and maintenance costs are skyrocketing, officials said, defending their decision. The department had to reconsider money for projects that are in preliminary stages and decide which projects can wait longer, they said.

The department divided its “preliminary development projects” into three phases: those to be completed in six to 10 years, those that will begin in 11 to 15 years and those that will likely wait at least 16 years for construction to begin. The department will complete the plan in September after considering public testimony from around the state, said ITD spokesman Jeff Stratten.

The proposed Greensferry Road overpass at Interstate 90 in Post Falls was put in the 11- to 15-year phase, as were improvements on Highway 95 from Sagle to Sandpoint. Replacement for Dover Bridge in Bonner County is expected to begin in six to 10 years. Other North Idaho projects, such as improvements on U.S. Highway 95 from Sagle to Ponderay, were put in the 16-years-plus category.

Post Falls has been working with the state on I-90 access for several years, Mayor Larkin said at an all-day meeting of the Idaho Transportation Board in Coeur d’Alene. To have the project “yanked out from under us is totally unacceptable,” he told board members.

“Yes!” a woman in the audience exclaimed, prompting applause from about 40 other residents who attended the meeting to support Larkin and the project.

Post Falls is a city that’s “growing almost hourly,” Larkin said, with the population – about 25,000 – predicted to exceed 75,000 in 20 years. “And I believe it’s going to happen,” he said.

The economic development of Post Falls depends on the timely completion of the overpass, which would make it much easier to access the businesses that line I-90. Larkin said some businesses have talked about moving if the overpass isn’t built soon.

“We can’t lose this project,” he said.

Idaho Rep. George Eskridge, a Republican from Dover, told the board he’s worried the Dover Bridge project, which is ready to be constructed except for the funding, will be forgotten now that it’s on the list for six to 10 years out. Board members assured him the project is merely awaiting funding and eventually will be completed, but Eskridge remained unconvinced.

“You can say it, but I don’t believe it,” he said, adding that the department needs to find a better way to keep the public informed about changes.

Dover Mayor Randy Curless said the Dover Bridge is one of the worst in the Northwest. Chunks of the bridge, built in the 1930s, fall off regularly, he said.

He gave each board member a chunk of the bridge to use as a paperweight during the meeting.

“I don’t believe it can last six to 11 years,” he said. “If it isn’t done right away, I’m afraid it’s going to be paid for with people’s lives.”

But board members said raising construction costs have pushed the value of $1 in 2003 to about 61 cents this year. There are projects all over the state that need to be completed, but “we can’t build them all tomorrow. We don’t have any money,” board member Gary Blick said.

An independent group charged with examining the funding situation at the transportation department recently recommended increases in motorist fees, including an increase in the state gas tax. But those are just ideas. Nothing is certain that will boost the department’s funding in the near future.

This means tough decisions by the transportation department, usually resulting in angry people all around the state, said board member Neil Miller.

“It isn’t fun anymore,” Miller said. “We get beat up everywhere we go.”