You and I have spoken about the issue of the right to a vote and I have always agreed with your position. I for one think that there should be an advisory vote on the Streetcar. However, what Rep. Moyle is trying to do is make an already difficult situation for cities that much more difficult. Does my position against Moyle’s bill mean that I am “pro-Streetcar”? No, it doesn’t. It means that I am pro-local government. What you are seeing within the City of Boise with the Streetcar proposal is a desperate grasp for something, anything, to help city government. Moyle and his ilk are solely responsible. If they had permited local option authority I can almost guarantee
the issue of the LID would be non-existent.

Regards,

Rep. Branden Durst

EDITOR NOTE–Rep. Durst, Many thanks for taking the time to comment. The GUARDIAN and many if not most readers favor logical, efficient public transit and local government. I join them in opposing the street car project. The quote from you about “empowering” rather than “constraining” local government raised warning flags. Without the legislature, there is NOTHING other than the GUARDIAN and public opinion to constrain local government.

Urban renewal agencies are currently meeting to craft legislation to insure they will not be “constrained” through public votes on spending the public funds diverted to them from counties, cities, highway districts and schools without a single vote of a citizen or elected official. Empowering is not what we need–just look at the empowerment granted to banks, GM, and wall street to see the need for constraints.

Thanks for the informed comments about light rail and the existing spur line. These things make sense. I hope one or both of you weigh in on this issue to city hall/daily letter to editor. According to today’s daily, only $25 million, not $40 million, will be available for streetcar proposals from the feds. Why not turn down the money and write a new grant for light-rail or bus improvements that serve more people and are less disruptive to existing business owners and downtown traffic.

My advisor said no, the more we spend the less our money is worth. Hmmm, so is that why I feel raped while exchanging money for Euros? Yes, he said. Hmmm.

Maybe we should stop the presses and tell China to restructure our debt.

Micron is dead gone ba-bye… traffic count down with it?

Make rail-beds into bike path so we don’t run so many over (tragic bad mix of big vs. little)

Transportation is not a mess in this area… pollution is, but that’s gonna reduce with getting rid of dirty woodstoves and dirty old cars… Anybody wants a choochoo just wants to spend other people’s money on their national political image/future. The best way to do that is to leave your city in financial ruin while spending fed money on stupid stuff we don’t need or want.

I’m waiting for them to announce a beer tax for a new pro sports stadium we don’t need either.

The city was very short-sighted when it permitted the partial vacation of the portion of the spur line that now runs through the glass atrium of Syringa Bank — but that’s an easy fix (and a lot less expensive than whatever would have to be done to correct the transportation mess around the Depot – so often overlooked in discussions regarding the re-opening of the Depot for passenger rail service).

Since the steel trestle would have to be rehabilitated for its use as a light rail bridge, it could easily be retrofit with a pedestrian/bike pathway on (or attached to) the trestle.

(From a selfish standpoint, that bridge and the associated corridor are a marvelous component that makes the Greenbelt a better transportation corridor. But it’s much easier to find a bicycle alternative than a rail alternative! Just like it’s easier to run a bus than a streetcar.)

If the traditional rail path were reinstated, it would go right through the front yard, within feet if not inches, of the Syringa Bank at the corner of Orchard & Irving.

If we’re going all “visionary” here, Micron could be served by the spur line – already owned by the city of Boise – that goes east from the Depot and passes within a couple blocks of the Micron complex.

There’s an existing heavy rail spur line that splits off the line that runs to the Depot, near the intersection of Franklin and Hartman.

This line, only partially abandoned, could take light rail transit right down to Riverside Park (near Shoreline Dr.) — there’s still a steel trestle bridge across the river that could be rehabilitated to support this rail line. It would be comparatively easy to extend this route under the Connector (via the Shoreline Dr. underpass) and onto Fairview. The line could then run down Fairview to Main Street.

This would provide a truly regional light rail transit route from downtown Nampa to downtown Boise. With stops in downtown Meridian and at the regional mall, the only thing that it wouldn’t connect to is Micron — but if that company really cared about its employees’ access to work, it could start operating a bus fleet from park & ride lots (near transit terminals) to its campus.

HERE is an interesting story from the 12/1 Salt Lake Tribune website: “Commuter rail: Once a gamble, TRAX ingrained in Wasatch Front’s future.”

The TRAX in SLC debuted 10 years ago this month, and is a hit!

From the article:
– The opening TRAX route ran 17 miles, and cost $312 million. 80% was from the feds.
– Construction began in 1997, so it took 2+ years to complete.
– “Voters approved a quarter-cent sales tax increase in 2000 and again in 2007 to accelerate TRAX construction.”
– “Per trip… it costs $1.25 to move each person on light rail, compared to between $3 and $4 on a bus.”
– UTA officials already have a broad vision for what the upcoming decades will hold. Train tracks, either light or commuter rail, will be the backbone of a network that will include streetcars, buses and bus-rapid transit, as well as pedestrian and bike ways across the Wasatch Front… Eventually, he wants 90 percent of the urban population within one mile of public transportation. “You won’t need a car, but you’ll still want to have one,” Inglish said, adding the best transit solution is a mixture of both.

Of course, I don’t want to liken the TRAX to the Boise Streetcar, which is more like the choo-choo that does circles around SLC’s Hogle Zoo. The TRAX actually transports people to destinations.

A light rail from Caldwell to Boise would be much more similar to TRAX in concept. The similarity is limited, however… TRAX puts people in downtown SLC, close to their offices. A Treasure Valley model, using existing tracks, would put people at the Depot, with another trip to get where they’re going.