Hundreds reject proposed South Expressway at open house

IDAHO FALLS – Approximately 350 residents enthusiastically opposed the proposed South Expressway at a Bonneville Metropolitan Planning Organization (BMPO) public meeting Tuesday evening.

Lines formed outside the doors of the open house, held at the Idaho Falls Activity Center on Skyline Drive, where citizens learned about “potential new and improved corridors,” submitted comments and concerns, asked questions and spoke with traffic engineers, the BMPO leadership etc. officials were able to speak.

RELATED | The proposed South Expressway and other “new and improved transportation corridors” will be discussed at Tuesday’s open house

In August, the BMPO – which coordinates transportation planning for Ammon, Idaho Falls, Iona, Ucon, Bonneville County and the Idaho Transportation Department – released a “High-Capacity Roadways Study” recommending that 45th West, Old Butte Road, 25th East (Hitt), 45th East (Crowley), 49th North, 33rd North, Lincoln Road and Sunnyside Road will be reclassified as strategic arterials, with North 5th West reclassified as a major arterial.

The study also proposed construction of a four-lane east-west expressway between 65th South and 81st South, which would extend from Interstate 15 to 45th East.

“The most promising part of this study in the short term will be the strategic arterials, particularly in rural areas, and then the expressway,” said DKS traffic engineer Aaron Berger. “The proposed expressway is a concept. … The hosting location has not yet been determined, and the public will have … more opportunity to have a say in where it will be.”

According to a BMPO memo, the expressway would consist of a “restricted, median-separated, high-speed (55 mph or greater) highway” — similar to U.S. Highway 20.

The Southern Freeway proposal was selected in part because it would affect fewer property owners than widening 65th South, which already has a large number of driveways and residential developments, officials said.

Significant local resistance

However, the vast majority of those attending the meeting opposed the expansion of the expressway.

Bonneville County resident Corey Smith owns 10 acres of land on 73rd Street near Sandy Downs, where he has been planning for years to build a new home.

“We wouldn’t be able to build, so it’s pretty devastating for us,” he said. “The plan was to start digging in November. I’m not sure that’s going to happen.”

Aside from the project’s potential impact on the value of his property, Smith said he will lose a few hundred thousand dollars he invested in planning, preparing the foundation and obtaining FEMA floodplain permits.

Although the final alignment of the expressway has not yet been determined, the current proposal shows it cutting across his property.

“We are advocates that the city of Idaho Falls needs a better traffic pattern (and) a better transportation system,” Smith said. “So I’m not against development. I don’t mind doing something pretty big. This just seems pretty random.”

Other long-term residents are also strictly against it.

“I don’t want these people coming down my street,” said Jacob Mowrer, who lives on 65th South. “That’s a joke.”

Keith Newberry raised his family in his home on South 5th West for 30 years.

“You can’t put an overpass over a house,” he said. “If they want to build this overpass, they’re going to take away my property…whether it’s a significant property or whether they’re making me an offer.”

Newberry said neighboring farms would also be divided by the proposed highway.

Additionally, Bonneville County residents are concerned that the BMPO’s political board consists primarily of elected officials from Idaho Falls and Ammon who do not represent their interests in the county.

“We feel like the stepchildren in the county, and no one is protecting green spaces, no one is giving us Metroparks – they’re just going to dump traffic,” Amy Miner said.

Bonneville County’s population is expected to nearly double in 25 years

But Bonneville Metropolitan Planning Organization officials say the county’s population is expected to grow 80 to 90 percent over the next 25 years, requiring advanced planning for future high-capacity roads.

According to the study, drivers “will experience 82% more delays per trip system-wide by 2050.”

“This need needs to be a little larger and extend further into the future to achieve this level of growth,” said DKS traffic engineer Aaron Berger. “Everyone experienced it on the 17th and is starting to experience it at Sunnyside the way it feels – that level of growth. Imagine that this continues in the future. These corridors are becoming untenable.”

The Bonneville Metropolitan Planning Organization’s August 2024 study estimates that the area’s population is expected to increase from 118,477 people and 40,759 households in 2022 to 218,412 residents and 74,946 households in 2050. Ammon.

“The challenge is that we have a lot of growth and high density. It’s coming in the future and we have limited space in the arteries,” said Chris Canfield, deputy director of public works in Idaho Falls.

In this phase, according to Berger, BMPO is working on “preserving rights of way, not acquiring rights of way.” “This is about ensuring that upcoming development does not preclude a future expressway.”

Expanding the expressway and strategic arterials, according to the BMPO, would “reduce congestion and traffic demand by 16% on First Street, 10% on 17th Street, 27% on 49th Street, 40% on 65th Street and 16% on.” Reduce Ammon Road”. .

“Either we reserve some right-of-way now, or in 20 years it will be too late and there will be gridlock like this across the country,” said Clifton Koon, principal engineer at Keller Associates.

Construction of the highway is expected to take place in about 20 to 30 years, said Darrell West, director of the Bonneville Metropolitan Planning Organization. Funding for this has not yet been secured as the process is in the planning phase.

The expressway would not be built if future land use and growth goals do not reach a sufficient level to justify the project.

Some citizens support the proposal.

“We’re way behind right now in terms of traffic,” said Patti Kanter, who lives on 65th South. “There is no way to get from one side of the valley to the other and this will relieve a lot of traffic congestion – especially at rush hour.”

The BMPO Policy Committee, which will make the final decisions, is primarily made up of local elected officials – including Chair Lisa Burtenshaw, Vice Chair Jim Freeman, Idaho Falls Mayor Rebecca Casper, Idaho Falls City Councilman John Radford, and the Ammon City Councilman Jeff Fullmer, Bonneville County Commissioner Jon Walker, Iona Mayor Dan Gubler, Ucon City Councilman Chris Paolini and Idaho Department of Transportation Representative Bryan Young.

Fullmer said he supports measures to prepare for growth and he appreciates the opportunity to receive direct feedback from the public.

“We have people coming together, understanding better what’s going on, and we’re letting go of those frustrations now,” Fullmer said. “Everyone says, ‘We should have done this 20 years ago.’ We know that. That’s why we’re doing something now.”