Where Do We Grow from Here? Public Survey (June 1 – July 11, 2020) Open-Ended Comments
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Where do we grow from here? Public Survey (June 1 – July 11, 2020) Open-Ended Comments Thank you to all commenters. All open-ended comments will be used to inform the goals, objectives, and implementation policies for Communities in Motion 2050, shape the Communities in Motion 2050 Vision, and be provided to the COMPASS Board of Directors. Score (Lower Comment number = (The comments below are verbatim, as submitted by the commenter. As such, typographical errors have not been corrected) higher rank) Values Rank Your Top 5 Values In Order of Importance Lower number = higher rank; NA = did not rank in top 5 Value: Effective Transportation It's important to me to preserve what is great about Idaho. Rural areas are becoming overrun with housing developments that the transportation system cannot support. Farms are becoming 5 subdivisions. There are no really good transit type options so more cars are on the road than ever before. Surely we can do better than to continue re-paving roads into huge highways instead of finally 1 accepting good public transportation. If disney can build a monorail system in 1956 why don't we build a system for the treasure valley in 1 2020? If we build it ridership will be there to fill the seats. I had lived in several out of state cities, this is the worst transaction issues I had seen. Canyon I NA don’t see busses as much, people complain that they can’t visit people in hospitals, assistant living , and they can’t go to lakes, malls, downtown Boise, and even movie theaters NA Without planning for effective transportation we would become just another ant hill. This category seems to get ignored until needed. This needs to be a proactive part of growth. 1 Expansion of lanes for traffic needs to happen before the growth hits for effective traffic controls for all. Increase speeds on roads, more arterials, move traffic. Let the public choose our safety parameters 4 not engineers!! We already have choice in transportation ... the fact is most people do not want to be paying for mass NA transit that few use. 2 THIS...we really need dedicated rapid line transit Effective transportation is a vision, implementation in an complicated and not done in a vacuum. 1 Options for safe and efficient transportation are important and integral to quality of life as well as economic well being. There is no Master planning, with developers having free reign. P & Z commissions are almost a farce 4 with developers ALWAYS winning. Transportation issues are caused by dense housing. Enough triple level apartments! Higher population means less safe and efficient transportation. Keeping the population low will help to 5 keep us safe. 2 I think there should be intercepting transit hubs. Would love to see a railway or something to that effect from canyon county to ada county. I think this 4 would create so many opportunities for both canyon and ada counties. Our lack of mass transit, light rail, and sufficient travel corridors is tragic. Free right hand turns and 3 round-abouts will not solve the congestion problems. Think out of the box! Be progressive!! The urban sprawl will only get worse and we need solutions to REDUCE traffic on our road systems! 3 More road development to support the incoming population is essential. NA Keep area small and rural. Public transportation does not fit here. 1 Score (Lower Comment number = (The comments below are verbatim, as submitted by the commenter. As such, typographical errors have not been corrected) higher rank) The “flying wye” only has two lanes of traffic from downtown Boise to I-84 west. It should be at NA LEAST 3 merge lanes, probably 4. The road should safely handle the traffic flow and allow people entrance and exit to destinations. 4 Being able to live close to ones work and acquire essential services near your home should also help. 4 light rail lines to Boise from Caldwell NA Need good roads, sidewalks and bike lanes. NO public subsidy for transit. Often times the full impact of development and the surrounding impact to multiple neighborhoods and streets are NOT taken into consideration when feasibility is determined. We moved outside of Boise 4 because we appreciate the small town less congested life. This is not being used as a factor in helping to mitigate congestion and noise. I suggest incentives for creative workweeks to reduce traffic. 1. People working more at home Perhaps 3 days at home 2 days in the office or any variation on that theme. 5 2. Staggered schedules Start work in 30 minutes intervals between 6:30-10:30. End work in a similar fashion. 3. Don't build more roads: Use technology to its best and work from home. I think ACHD can easily and inexpensively re-stripe lanes to keep traffic flowing. For example, at Eagle Rd and Chinden, if the left turn lanes on Eagle to head east on Chinden were lengthened it 1 would allow for more cars to stack in the turn lanes and allow traffic to flow more smooth. I have many more suggestions of similar intersections so please ask if you are interested. [Email address provided; removed here for privacy] 5 Since you seem opposed to ever creating a N-S expressway, then please create a good public transit. Good roads are the first priority. Any public transportation must be cost effective NA including the cost NA of onboard security. A tax of hundreds of dollars per year on those who do not use it, and get little benefit from it, is not acceptable. Good roads are the first priority. Any public transportation must be cost effective NA including the cost of onboard security. There must be a method of preventing people from getting on without paying, otherwise it is no better than the Portland MAX, which shuttles freeloaders with their open cans of NA beer around. A tax of a hundred dollars per year on those who do not use it is not acceptable. Yes they get little bit of positive benefit from it and the pleasure of driving them as well. This is the 21st century. Why would you want to have jobs concentrated in a larger city, instead of spread out closer to where the people live? NA Left turn lanes. Cloverdale 5 mile etc 2 Need to get rid of all the 2 lane roads. This is no longer a 1 horse town. Please consider building a freeway system around Boise and implement the use of feeder roads. Then 3 you have the best of both worlds. Freeways in Texas are a good example. The area is so far behind on adequate roads it must rev up its road expansion to accommodate the huge influx of new people each year. Synchronizing more lights could help mitigate all the idling and consequent poor air. One of my friends is actually leaving the area because the traffic is such a mess. 1 When it takes twice as long to get somewhere as it should, that is OPPORTUNITY LOST. I am now ordering many things on Amazon Prime because I despise fighting traffic to shop. That means less business for the local businesses. Plus valuable time is wasted in congested traffic. That is also lost opportunity. Most importantly, the congested traffic is Not safe and safety should trump everything. We need to work on getting our primary transportation corridors up to snuff to handle all the modes 1 of needed transportation at an acceptable LOS. [level of service] This makes it sound like congestion is a desired trait! What about human powered options NA walking, 3 cycling? What does Compass do for us? Are they just wasting our money? Answer: COMPASS is the forum for regional collaboration in southwest Idaho that helps maintain a healthy and 5 economically vibrant region, offering people choices in how and where they live, work, play, and travel. Its primary responsibility is to conduct regional transportation planning as the metropolitan planning organization (MPO) for the Boise and Nampa urbanized areas. An urbanized area with a population over 50,000 must have an MPO to be eligible for federal transportation funding. Crucial to a well functioning community. Public transportation must operate frequently from early 2 morning to late at night 2 Score (Lower Comment number = (The comments below are verbatim, as submitted by the commenter. As such, typographical errors have not been corrected) higher rank) The biggest problem with effective transportation is every time an area starts to build up we are in behind to keep up with the growth. Eagle Road is a classic example. This is a state hwy and yet between Overland and State Street is so overbuilt now even though the speed limit is 50mph, there are so many traffic lights, so much traffic, and so much growth around that corridor it is standstill traffic much of the time. We have to react to the traffic situation and try to expand into new lanes after development has already happened. This is expensive, time consuming, and should be done 5 before development has taken place. Eagle Road should really have been designed more like the I184 extension so it would be more effective. Now, to try to do something like that would be very expensive and there is no room. It's only going to get worse because of planned development on the NW corner of Eagle/Fairview that will cause even more traffic and more nightmare. That parcel shouldn't be developed at all and leave it alone.