Daily News: Idaho Road Plan Benefits Boise Mostly

Moscow-Pullman Daily News editorial: Potholes and politics don’t mix in Idaho

Perhaps the state should consider renaming its “Connecting Idaho” highway plan “Connecting Ada County.” That appears to be the state’s primary objective, as evidenced by the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee’s recent decision to divert $44 million in funds earmarked for U.S. Highway 95 improvements to projects in and around Boise. The money was supposed to help pay for a U.S. 95 project in Kootenai and Bonner counties, but plans for a proposed interchange were scrapped and the money will be funneled to the south instead. State Rep. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, said the funds could have gone toward other needed work on U.S. 95, but her voice apparently wasn’t loud enough to be heard. Southwestern Idaho lawmakers said safety issues, not politics, were the primary factor in the decision. We find that hard to believe, and so do some legislators. “Those with the power get those projects,” said Sen. Dean Cameron, R-Rupert. “Those without the power do not.”

DFO: For the life of me, I can’t figure out why Rep. Frank Henderson, R-Post Falls, is crowing about this legislation. Basically, North Idaho got screwed out of its place in the road construction line. And you know as well as I do that money has a way of drying up when it comes to North Idaho projects.