Earlier this year (2012) ACHD undertook a survey of the citizen’s to see how they felt about how ACHD was spending money and in essence doing their job.  A similar survey was done in 2006 and it was interesting to see how the answers in both matched up.

70% rated ACHD as doing a good to excellent job – in 2006 that only 48% did so.

85% were somewhat or highly satisfied with the level of road-building, maintenance and community projects – in 2006 only 62% were satisfied.

80% were satisfied with the services ACHD provides.

Those are very good numbers indeed.  However, only 66% were satisfied with how the intersections were managed for congestion.  Clearly more emphasis needs to be placed on moving traffic through intersections.  Some of the ideas ACHD is working on include more permissive left turn greens at regular intersections and turning intersections into roundabouts, which would allow mostly continuous flow and have been used successfully in Europe, other American cities and, surprisingly, Canyon County Idaho.

55% of those surveyed favored wider buffer strips between pedestrians and cars and 31% favored landscaping those buffer strips.  Personally, I favor landscaping.  If we view pedestrianism as a valid form of transportation, then we need to make it more attractive and safe feeling.

The most surprising answer came to the question, “would you favor raising revenues for transportation”. 60% favored taxing vehicles based on size.  Only 38% favored local option taxation, a seemingly cautionary tale for those who seek to put something like this on the ballot.  Respondents voted 3 to 1 against raising property or gasoline taxes.

All in all, the results were interesting but show ACHD has some work to do to live up to its goal of excellence in all it does.

In fact, 80% of people surveyed indicate they avoid Fairview Ave.  However, it is an important commercial street linking the two biggest cities in Ada County.

Today, a joint meeting was held at ACHD attended by ACHD Commissioners, Boise City Councilmembers and the Mayor and Council of Meridian with the express agenda item of Fairview Ave Access Management.  This has been a project that has been in the works for years.  The concept would include limiting left turns along Fairview except at major intersections and perhaps every quarter of a mile.  U-turns would be allowed, medians would be constructed, (I would hope to see some median landscaping), driveways would be limited, there would be cross access agreements and eventually some frontage roads or some backage roads.  Obviously this would not all happen overnight.

While previous progress on this project was inhibited by the bad reaction to the State of Idaho’s concept of putting medians on Eagle Road, the attendees at today’s meeting agreed on a plan.  We will be bringing in some experts to help with the business economics side of things, working closely with the Boise and Meridian Chambers of Commerce to help get business input and perhaps, putting together a pilot project along one of the mile sections – most likely a pilot project in each city.  In addition, and most critical to the long term success of this transportation/mobility corridor,  the two cities will be working on  land use plans for development and redevelopment.

It is important for all the local governments in Ada County to work together.  This is a perfect example of how we do that.

Recently some ACHD employees went to the Rocky Mountain Asphalt Conference and Equipment Show. In keeping with our new Director Bruce Wong’s philosophy, any opportunity like this gets written up and reported back so that we might know if the conferences are worthwhile. This one appears to have been chock full of interesting and informative news.

While I think we all knew this, the conference proved that maintenance is critical and cost effective. For every dollar spent on prevention like chip sealing, crack sealing, pot hole repair and/or fog coats, $4 in rebuilding costs are saved. Obviously protecting what we in Ada County have makes a great deal of sense and that’s why ACHD is putting a lot of money into maintenance.

In the past, ACHD has chipsealed all roads on a 9 year rotation, working in two discrete areas per year.  This will be changed going forward.  We will not be chipsealing all roads in subdivisions or other less traveled areas as it’s been determined that it really is not needed.  Major roads such as arterials and collectors will continue to be chipsealed.  This adds about 5-7 years of life to the roadway before it needs to be resurfaced.

While chipsealing is not beloved, it is useful.  Think the sealing of the roadway akin to when the dentist sealed your child’s molars to prevent cavities.  Chipsealing prevents “cavities” in the road system, something we can all appreciate, even though I’ve heard dentists don’t like the analogy.

I actually thought her presentation was very illuminating. She’s now with the Idaho Business Coalition for Education Excellence, a group of 75-80 businesses wanting to improve education in the State of Idaho. Apparently, there’s a lot to improve.

In 2006, Idaho’s “grades” on the following attributes regarding students attending college were:

• Preparation for college – C
• Participation in college – D+
• Complete (finish college) – C+
• Affordability of college – D
• Benefits from an educated populace – C-

The affordability grade is a bit misleading in that only 2 states are better in affordability. (Apparently, college isn’t considered affordable unless it’s free and they pay you to go.)

The most depressing statistic however, was of every 100 9th graders starting high school in Idaho, only 79 actually graduate. Of these 79, only 36 enroll in college, 23 of those stay for their sophomore year and only 14 graduate from college.

(You’d think that with all the money we as a state have been pouring into education for the past decades we would have seen a huge increase in graduation rates would you not? However, in 1990 the graduation rate was higher! at 79.38%. In 2000, it was 76.9%. In 2006 it was 78.7%, lower than in 2000. So in 20 years, we’ve basically held even. Not that inspiring.)

Ms Donnell, then went on to riff on the latest documentary about education – “Waiting for Superman”. This is where she lost me. I felt she was a little too derisive and defensive. First of all, this movie is about 5 children from lousy school areas – DC, Harlem, LA – and them trying to escape bad schools by exercising choice through enrollment in charter schools. Ms Donnell defensively tried to compare a basically suburban school district ie Meridian with the hellholes these inner city kids face. She talked about how much preparation Meridian gives its students and that was great. But all schools are not doing the same preparation and not all students are getting the same amount of preparation.

She ended by wryly saying we all knew how she felt about public charter schools – heh heh. I could only surmise she didn’t like them. Fine. But shouldn’t we be more concerned about the students and what the best vehicle is for each student to learn to the best of his/her ability? For some kids its the public school, for others its a private school and for others its a charter school. Putting all our eggs in one very expensive and mediocre basket is not the way to go anymore. We basically have a 19th century school system for a 21st century world.

The saddest thing is we will never as a state have that conversation. All we’ll do is argue about how much money is “needed” to fund the schools.

These are user fees and fares, local option sales tax, local option resort tax (extend to all cities), local option property tax and impact fees.

The good news is the task force is really looking at funding transit. The bad news is that with the exception of user fees and fares which transit currently uses, there isn’t much hope that any of these will pass. The good news though is that the tax force recognizes that urban and rural systems have differing needs and that the local option sales tax is the most logical way of dealing with local needs. The bad news (or the good depending how you feel about local option taxes) is that this is unlikely to pass the House except as a Constitutional Amendment.

Realistically, the word from various legislators in leadership is that this coming session will be devoted mostly to the budget which is facing a $350 million hole. How can this be you ask since the Statesman reported that collections were up in August? Well, apparently this increase was against a projection. Actual collections are below what they were in August 2009. The $350 million hole is what will not be funded by “stimulus” money this year. Basically, last year the State put off making the really, really hard decisions.

I guess what I don’t understand is, where does/did all the money go? Idaho’s population increased 54% from 1990 to 2010, yet the general fund budget went up a whopping 182%; $889,399,700 to $2,506,600,000.
Seems like there should be plenty of money for our needs. So where did it go? That should be the question the legislature needs to tackle.

I’m sure one of the questions this essay will bring to mind is, why are they going forward with million dollar projects and then talking about cutting routes. The answer is in the funding source.

Anyway, the downtown transit center located on “Site H” or the parking lot on 11th St next to the Empire Building and between Idaho and Bannock Sts is now a go. Actually it’s a multimodal center. The project is projected to cost $11.9 million with the local match of $2.9 million coming from CCDC. The architectural firm of Zimmer, Gunsul and Frasca from Portland are the architects.

I voted no to enter into a contract with ZGF. I have nothing against them, in fact, they have been involved with the CCDC from the mid 80′s. What I did object to was not awarding the contract to a local firm. While the federal rules say you can’t choose a local firm just to have a local firm, it was noted that there was not really a difference between ZGF and others. In the case of a tie, I believe the edge should go to a local firm particularly with our economy in such dire straits.

The downtown Boise bus shelters will be replaced. Hard to believe the existing shelters are 25 years old. They will have new lives in Greenleaf Idaho and at Bogus Basin shuttle sites. In addition, there will be other shelters placed throughout Ada and Canyon Counties. The shelters are also funded through a grant.

VRT, in cooperation with Boise, ACHD, Eagle, Garden City and hopefully ITD, will be continuing the State St Corridor Study the goal of which is to integrate high speed transit with a better flowing roadway and develop land use policies that further both while also incorporating pedestrian and bicycle elements. Because, as anyone who ever drives State St knows, it’s a pain to drive now.

Drainage is always a crapshoot. A lot of it is unknown and generally every project has a surprise with monetary consequences which are rarely to the good.

Anyway, the issue was do we go all the way to Hill Rd with the sidewalk or do we stop some ways short of Hill Rd. We decided to fund the whole sidewalk construction.

The most astonishing statement however, came from Commission President Sherry Huber. She said she was “concerned that the character of the neighborhood might change” with the addition of the sidewalk and that “a lot of trees might have to be taken out” which would “change the neighborhood”. Apparently Ms Huber drives this area twice a week to visit the park.

Had I been drinking water I would have spit it into the audience. This is the same woman that refused to even hold a public hearing on the “change to the neighborhood” of the Ustick Rd project a number of years ago which destroyed the “character” of the Ustick area and which destroyed at least 200 mature trees and various landscaping. Her idea of public outreach then was to tell people what ACHD was going to do and allow no input.

Thankfully, ACHD doesn’t treat neighborhoods or citizens with the same disdain as they did a number of years ago. So in that respect, I suppose Ms Huber’s ephiphany on the road to the park was a good one – just about 5 years out of date.

Interestingly, intersection safety is most enhanced through the use of roundabouts. Property damage only accidents (PDO) are reduced by 40% and injury accidents are reduced by 75% as shown below. And while a signalized intersection may be wonderful for moving traffic, it does not reduce accidents at all from an all-way stop intersection.

Improvement Reduction Factor

Road Widening that includes adding a center turn lane – 25%
Road Widening where a center turn lane already exists – 10%
Road Access management project (raised medians) – 25%
New Installing a signal at a 1 or 2-way stop control – 25%
New Installing a signal at an all-way stop control – 0%
Rebuild Adding a dedicated right turn lane (all four approaches) 6%*
Rebuild Adding a left turn lane (both approach pairs) – 34%*
Rebuild Adding dual left turn lanes (both approach pairs) – 14%*
Roundabout Replacing a stop or signal-controlled intersection with a
roundabout – 40% (PDO); 75% (Injury)

*These reduction rates may be prorated where improvements are added on some but not.

My question is, if roundabouts clearly are shown to reduce accidents and we know that traffic flows continuously where they occur, why are we not building any in Ada County. (And no, I don’t count the “roundabout” on Pine in Meridian since there are only two legs rendering it more of a wide spot in the road than a roundabout.) Let’s hope that empirical data, such as that provided by this analysis, spurs the use of this road improvement.

The latest four properties are:

1. 7916 Hastings in Boise.

2. 10036 Ustick in Boise.

3. 1475 E Franklin Rd in Meridian.

4. 8960 W Midland in Boise.

A few small towns in Holland and Germany are experimenting with doing away with all traffic signage/signals in the hopes of decongesting the roads and making driving less confusing.

Yes, it’s totally counterintuitive. Some in Europe believe that by removing all the signs, drivers must pay increased attention to the roadway. Currently they feel that the proliferation of signs is caused by the fear of litigation rather than safety concerns. Apparently the lawyers have been unchained in Europe as they have here.

Bizarrely, in Drachten Holland, they have even built a children’s playground in the middle of the road to force drivers to slow down. (Wonder who lets their kids actually play there?)

Anyway, I think there is a good point to all this even though in practice for large areas, or even medium areas, it would not work and that is by making things more difficult for drivers, they may in fact become more cognizant of their surroundings. Maybe like give up the texting and the talking on cell phones or whatever. And it would be appropriate to review the signage to reduce proliferation.

Here’s a link to the article.