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| Keep on truckin’ |
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| Realigning route starts with input on why, where at |
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 | | Free Press/David Rauzi | | Participants at the Feb. 24 informational open house meeting on the Grangeville truck route realignment review details about the proposal. |
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By David Rauzi (editor)
GRANGEVILLE -- Residents recently got their first look into the early stages of the how, what and where for a proposed Grangeville truck route realignment.
Public input received and currently being processed from this Feb. 24 open house informational session will help planners through the concept phase, which once completed will provide the necessary groundwork to next seek project design engineering and funding.
About 45 people attended the two-hour informal presentation held at the Grangeville Senior Center, according to Don Galligan, senior planner for McMillen, LLC. The Boise-based engineering firm has been contracted to do the Grangeville Truck Route Alignment Study by the Grangeville Highway District, the $185,000 cost of which is being funded mostly by a grant from the Local Highway Technical Assistance Council (LHTAC).
Safety, usability and reducing Main Street truck traffic are the main issues behind realigning or even relocating the route, which runs along the north edge of Grangeville from its intersection with U.S. Highway 95 on the west to its joining State Highway 13 on the east. Improving this byway, which is under the highway district's jurisdiction, was the number one priority, according to Galligan, that came out of the U.S. Highway 95 Corridor Study undertaken by the Idaho Transportation Department in 2004.
"The truck route in Grangeville really doesn't function as it should," Galligan said. "There are too many 90-degree turns on the route [including at the U.S. 95 and SH 13 intersections] that are difficult and complicated for trucks to maneuver."
Planners look to make the route function better for both community and commercial use, and to alleviate some downtown truck traffic.
At last month's informational meeting, planners presented options for the truck route that put up for consideration a selection of modifications that worked with the existing alignment as well as a proposed realignment along Airport Road to the north. West end changes would dump traffic farther out nearer to the Idaho Forest Group mill site, and to the east changes suggest rerouting around Prairie View Cemetery.
"Nobody really didn't want to see something happening here," Galligan said, "but there were several differences of opinion on where the best route would be," particularly where property owners would be impacted. "We were very happy with the turnout we had and the types of feedback we've been receiving throughout this process," which, he added, will be incorporated into the proposed options to be considered later.
Comments by Idaho County Commissioners in attendance were supportive of making the road function correctly, he said, but not putting it too far out from the community so it functions as a bypass.
"That's been an ongoing thing," he said. "There was talk long ago of doing some rerouting of Highway 13, essentially taking people north of Airport Road. And we heard very early when we were putting this together that this is not something the local community really wants us to consider, and we're not."
Truck routes function correctly when they're relatively close to the community, he added. So realigning the route too far out of town, "really doesn't make sense."
The bypass issue, specifically citing a lack of public support for which, was behind the City of Grangeville's decision a year ago to pull out of a memorandum of understanding with the highway district and Idaho County Commission, initially established in 2007 to support efforts to develop a new truck route. Supporting the city's stance, the county withdrew shortly after, leaving the district to pursue the project on its own.
At this point in the process, planners are incorporating public comments as they review factors including land use, environmental and routing options. Another informational open house is tentatively set for late spring, possibly May, to present initial concept plans for further public comment. As the schedule currently stands, a final concept for route alignment could be ready in October.
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