Little: Fix roads or abandon them

Lt. Gov. Brad Little reported to the Senate Transportation Committee today on the findings of the governor’s transportation funding task force, which concluded that Idaho’s roads and bridges need $543 million worth of work, but that no funding increases should be proposed now in the midst of an economic downturn. “The $543 (million) number is the best number we can come up with,” given current systems at ITD, Little told the lawmakers. With the installation of new computerized management systems, he said, “We are on the glide path to having much better information.”

Some discussion focused on a comment from one of the task force members, former state Rep. Jim Kempton, that if Idaho can’t afford to keep up its road system, it’ll have to start abandoning parts of it. Little said that’s a real concern. “If we’re not going to do anything pretty soon, we’re going to be in the position of saying, ‘Are we going to keep the road to Stanley?’ ” Little said. “What’s it cost to maintain? … Are we going to allow the fog lines everywhere in the state to fade to where we’re jeopardizing public safety, in order to keep the road open to Grandjean? If you’ve got any friends that have winter cabins at Stanley, I know what their answer is, but we as policy makers have a real safety obligation to keep those fog lines painted all over the state of Idaho.”