Hundreds oppose proposed South Expressway at open house
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IDAHO FALLS — About 350 residents arrived fired up in opposition to the proposed South Expressway at a Bonneville Metropolitan Planning Organization (BMPO) public meeting on Tuesday evening.
Lines spilled out the doors of the open house, held at the Idaho Falls Activity Center on Skyline Drive, where citizens could learn about “potential new and enhanced corridors,” submit comments and concerns, ask questions and speak with traffic engineers, BMPO leadership and public officials.
In August, the BMPO — which coordinates transportation planning for Ammon, Idaho Falls, Iona, Ucon, Bonneville County and 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 be reclassified as strategic arterials with North 5th West being classified as a major arterial.
The study also proposed constructing a four-lane, east-west expressway between 65th South and 81st South that would stretch from Interstate 15 to 45th East.
“The most impactful part of this study in the short-term will be the strategic arterials, particularly in the rural (areas) and then the expressway,” said DKS traffic engineer Aaron Berger. “The proposed expressway is a concept. … The alignment location is not set, and the public will have … more opportunity to help determine where that is.”
According to a BMPO memo, the expressway would consist of a “limited access, median-separated, high speed (55 mph or more)” roadway — similar to U.S. Highway 20.
The south expressway proposal was selected in part because it would impact fewer property owners than expanding 65th South, which is already connected to a large number of driveways and housing subdivisions, officials said.
Significant local opposition
However, the vast majority of people attending the meeting opposed developing the expressway.
Bonneville County resident Corey Smith owns 10 acres on 73rd Street near Sandy Downs, where he has spent years planning to construct a new home.
“We wouldn’t be able to build, so it’s pretty devastating to us,” he said. “The plan was to start digging in November. I’m not sure that’s going to happen.”
Besides the project’s potential impact on his property value, Smith said he stands to lose a couple hundred thousand dollars he’s invested planning, prepping for the foundation and obtaining FEMA floodplain permits.
Although the final expressway alignment has not been determined, the current proposal shows it cutting right through his property.
“We’ve been advocates of the city of Idaho Falls needing a better traffic pattern (and) a better traffic system,” Smith said. “So I’m not against development. I’m not against doing something pretty major. This one just seems like it’s pretty random.”
Other long-term residents are also staunchly opposed.
“I don’t want those people coming down my road,” said Jacob Mowrer who lives on 65th South. “This is a joke.”
Keith Newberry raised his family in his home on South 5th West for 30 years.
“You can’t put an overpass over someone’s house,” he said. “If they’re going to build that overpass, it takes my property … whether it’s eminent domain or whether they make me an offer.”
Newberry said neighboring farms would also be divided by the proposed expressway.
Additionally, Bonneville County residents are concerned that the BMPO’s policy board is composed 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 nobody’s protecting green space, nobody’s giving us metro parks — 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 representatives say the county’s population is expected to grow 80 to 90% in the next 25 years, requiring advanced planning for future high-capacity roadways.
According to the study, drivers “systemwide will experience 82% more delay per trip by the year 2050.”
“This need to look kind of bigger and farther ahead is that level of growth,” said DKS traffic engineer Aaron Berger. “Everybody’s experienced it on 17th, (and is) starting to experience it on Sunnyside to what this feels like — this level of growth. Imagine that continuing into the future. Those corridors become untenable.”
The Bonneville Metropolitan Planning Organization August 2024 study estimates that the area population is expected to increase from 118,477 people and 40,759 households in 2022 to 218,412 residents and 74,946 households by 2050. Most of that expansion is expected to the south around the perimeters of Idaho Falls and Ammon.
“The challenge is we’ve got a lot of growth, and we’ve got a lot of density. It’s coming in the future, and we’ve got limited space within the arterials,” said Idaho Falls Assistant Director of Public Works Chris Canfield.
At this stage, BMPO is working towards “right-of-way preservation, not right-of-way acquisition,” according to Berger. “This is about making sure incoming development does ‘not preclude’ a future expressway.”
The development of the expressway and the strategic arterials would “reduce congestion and traffic demand 16% on First Street, 10% on 17th Street, 27% on 49th Street, 40% on 65th Street and 16% on Ammon Road,” according to BMPO.
“We either preserve some right-of-way now, or in 20 years, it’s too late, and we end up with this type of gridlock county wide,” said Clifton Koon, a senior engineer with Keller Associates.
Construction of the expressway is projected to take place in about 20 to 30 years, said Darrell West, director of the Bonneville Metropolitan Planning Organization. No funding for it has been secured yet, as the process is in the planning stages.
The expressway would not be built unless future land use and growth targets reach sufficient levels to justify the project.
Some citizens support the proposal.
“We’re way behind as far as traffic right now,” said Patti Kanter, who lives on 65th South. “There’s no way to get from one side of the valley to the other, and this is going to relieve a lot of traffic — especially rush hour.”
The BMPO Policy Committee, which will make the final decisions, consists primarily of local elected leaders — including Chairwoman Lisa Burtenshaw, Vice Chairman Jim Freeman, Idaho Falls Mayor Rebecca Casper, Idaho Falls City Councilman John Radford, Ammon City Councilman Jeff Fullmer, Bonneville County Commissioner Jon Walker, Iona Mayor Dan Gubler, Ucon City Councilman Chris Paolini and Idaho Transportation Department representative Bryan Young.
Fullmer said that he supports taking action to prepare for growth, and he appreciated the opportunity to receive the public’s direct feedback.
“We have people that come together, better understanding of what’s going on, and we’re getting these frustrations out now,” Fullmer said. “Everybody’s saying, ‘We should have done this 20 years ago.’ We know that. That’s why we are doing something now.”