Airport aid, long-range planning, legislative proposals
will highlight board’s July meeting in D4

Financial aid to Idaho airports, long-range transportation planning, and draft legislation for the next session will be discussed at the Idaho Transportation Board’s July 17-18 meeting in Shoshone.

Tour
The board will tour District 4 on July 17. In addition to visiting the I-84/I-86 Salt Lake City Interchange project and I-86 Raft River Bridges, the board will also stop at the D4 Office in Shoshone to tour the building. The board is requesting $12.5 million in the FY21 appropriation request to replace the aging facility.

Idaho Airport Aid Program
At its meeting in Shoshone on July 18, the board will be asked to approve the FY20 Idaho Airport Aid Program.

In addition to the $1 million available from state sources, the program includes several projects funded from the Federal Aviation Administration.

Some of the general aviation projects are for a perimeter fence at Homedale; design for an apron expansion at Kellogg; obstruction removal, runway safety area improvements, and pavement rehabilitation at Orofino; and beacon rehabilitation at the Jerome facility.

Some of the projects at the commercial airports include continuing runway realignment at Moscow; land acquisition, control tower design, and airport rescue and firefighting equipment at Hailey; terminal remodel and expansion design and taxiway reconfiguration at Idaho Falls; and reconstructing the taxiway and runway at the Lewiston airport.

Long-Range Transportation Plan
After approximately two years developing the updated 2040 Long-Range Transportation Plan, staff will present the final document to the board and request approval of the plan.

The updated plan provides information, guidance, and recommendations to help ITD and transportation professionals navigate transportation issues for the next 20 years. The plan addresses topics such as funding, growth, inflation, project selection, new and emerging technologies, and modal planning.

Staff worked closely with the public and stakeholders during the update process, and it made several presentations to the board last year as the Plan was developed. After the draft Plan was presented to the board earlier this year, a public comment period was held. Staff considered the 131 comments received as it prepared the final document.

Draft Legislation
At last month’s meeting, staff presented six legislative ideas to propose for the 2020 legislative session. The five were: local bridge inspection program cost recovery, remove minimum sales requirement from dealer and salesman license renewal, elimination of validation decals for commercial motor vehicles, commercial driver license reinstatement of lifetime disqualification, and align driver license/identification card fees with the administrative process.

These ideas were submitted to the Division of Financial Management for approval. The Governor’s Office did not support the proposal to address utilities in the department’s rights of way. The intent was to provide uniformity in the use of the term “public utility”. 

Staff will present draft legislation on the other five ideas for the board’s consideration. The legislation that is approved by the board will then be sent to the Division of Financial Management for potential introduction during the 2020 session.

Published 07-12-19