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Board to tour Wood River Valley in final
business meeting on the road in '09

The Idaho Transportation Board will complete its 2009 statewide tour and business meeting schedule with a visit to the Wood River Valley in District 6 Wednesday (Sept. 16). Some of the day’s activities include a visit to the Timmerman Rest Area, which will be reconstructed soon; an update on the proposal to relocate Friedman Memorial Airport (Hailey Airport); a visit with Mountain Rides Transportation Authority officials; and an update on the Idaho 75 corridor plans.

The business meeting will be conducted Thursday in the District 4 Office, beginning at 8:30 a.m. The meeting is open to the public.

Board agenda items

Railroad Grade Crossing Program
According to board policy, ITD staff is to report annually on the status of the Railroad Grade Crossing Protection Funds.

All six of the projects in the 2009 federal rail program were delivered on time. Projects included: Beck Road, Kootenai County; Stroebel Road, South Cloverdale Road, and South Locust Grove Road, all near Kuna; Ivins Road near Soda Springs; and Operation Lifesaver, totaling approximately $1.76 million.

The report indicates there are 2,643 active railroad grade crossings in the state. During calendar year 2008, 20 rail-highway collisions occurred, resulting in two fatalities, four injuries, and 16 property damage incidents. That compares to 21 collisions with three fatalities, three injuries, and 15 property damage incidents the previous year.

Following are statistics for rail-highway collisions in Idaho from 2004 through 2008. Most of those collisions occurred in January (16 of the 107 in the fie-year period). The fewest occurred in May with only 3. Of the 107 collisions, 30 occurred on a Tuesday and the least (six) occurred on Sundays. The statewide collision rate was 0.0405.

District 1, which has a total of 424 crossings, recorded the highest collision rate at 0.0755. District 5 has the most crossings, 604, but its collision rate was 0.0265. District 2’s collision rate was the lowest in Idaho, 0.00. District 2 also has the fewest crossings, 276.

FY10-13 Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP)
Idaho’s STIP, which is developed annually, represents a fiscally constrained, multi-year, multi-modal program that includes a schedule of highway, transit, aeronautics and highway safety projects.

One of the federal requirements of the STIP is certification that the program was developed with public involvement. ITD’s operating philosophy is to conduct year-round communication with citizens, elected officials, tribes, other state and federal agencies and interested parties on current and future projects. As the master plan of transportation projects in Idaho, the STIP is developed in collaboration with the Local Highway Technical Assistance Council, the six Metropolitan Planning Organizations and input from the public and other interested agencies.

The draft FY10-13 STIP will be available for public review and comment from Sept. 20 through Oct. 21. More than 1,500 CDs of the draft will be distributed to cities, counties and highway districts, each Idaho university and college, all Indian Tribal nations, legislators and various state agencies.

Public comments received during the public comment period will be submitted to the board in November. At that time, the board will be asked to approve the STIP before submitting it to the Federal Highway Administration and Federal Transit Administration for approval.

Draft legislation for 2010
Earlier this year, the board approved nine concepts to submit for the 2010 legislative session. It then added a new proposal -- increasing the outdoor advertising fees. The Division of Financial Management approved proceeding with eight of those legislative ideas. It disallowed the safety restraints and comprehensive airport land use planning concepts. The Executive Team subsequently decided to withdraw two other ideas – use of optional railroad crossing markers and emergency vehicle designation.

At the board meeting in Shoshone, draft legislation for the remaining six ideas will be presented for approval. Legislation approved by the Board must be submitted to the Division of Financial Management by next Friday (Sept. 18). The current proposals include driver training instruction permit, personal identity protection, safety restraint violation court costs, Commercial Driver’s License audit compliance, duplicate title issuance and an outdoor advertising fee increase.