Boise Transportation Thread

[Cottonwood]

http://boisestatepublicradio.org/pos...-drivers-boise

New Construction Project To Affect Cole, Fairview Drivers In Boise

ACHD calls the project “challenging” and says it will impact an average of 30,000 cars each day that use the intersection. The Department says the project is needed to keep up with growth and to add turn lanes, thru lanes, bike lanes and new sidewalks.

http://mediad.publicbroadcasting.net...d_cole_map.jpg

[BNF]

There's nothing like making the suburbs more suburban!

[plutonicpanda]

Originally Posted by BNF

There's nothing like making the suburbs more suburban!

That's why they're called suburbs? lol and if it were truly suburban, I wouldn't see a need for bike lanes.

[Cottonwood]

http://www.boiseweekly.com/boise/res...nt?oid=3955909

Resolution: Ditch That Single-Passenger Vehicle

Some Idaho employers are incentivizing workers to bus, bike or walk

As Boise emerged from its post-holiday slumber, downtown commuters began 2017 pretty much the same way they ended 2016: with a steady stream of rush-hour traffic. Just as routine as the traffic jam that fills Front Street and Capitol Boulevard each morning, the No. 1 Valley Regional Transit bus pulls into the newly opened Main Street Station, a block away from the congestion on Front and Capitol.

[DonDay]

I did a deep dive into the potential streetcar project - funding sources, routes, back room deals etc.

Here it is:

"T" for transit: Decision made on Boise streetcar; inside the push to make it a reality

I'd be interested in your feedback!

[BNF]

Originally Posted by plutonicpanda

That's why they're called suburbs? lol and if it were truly suburban, I wouldn't see a need for bike lanes.

My point was that simply because the intersection is already in a suburban area does not mean that the problem needs to be exacerbated by 8 and 9 lane roads that will further diminish the walkability of the area and increase car count which will eventually lead to more congestion. Your statement also implies that the inclusion of bike lanes is due to a demand and that any area with a bike lane cannot be considered suburban. There are ample examples of unused bike lanes as well as bike lanes through suburban areas, so I don't believe I understand your statement.

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by DonDay

I did a deep dive into the potential streetcar project - funding sources, routes, back room deals etc.

Here it is:

"T" for transit: Decision made on Boise streetcar; inside the push to make it a reality

I'd be interested in your feedback!

Image courtesy of Tucson RTA

I was looking for the mileage and the only place I could find it was on Transport Politic. They list a distance of 2.3 miles for a cost of ~$60 million. That's only for Main and Idaho Streets but it's a very good cost.

Big fan of streetcars. Kansas City recently opened their first 2.2 mile route for a cost of $102 million - but there's 4.4 miles of track since it runs both ways. It's a big hit and enough signatures have been collected to put a $1 billion 26-mile expansion on a ballot measure. Kansas City received $37.1 million in Federal grants.

Tempe AZ is approved for $75 million in Federal funds towards a cost of ~$180 million for a streetcar line that they hope to break ground on by the end of this year.

Just a guess that doing a Phase 1 that runs along Main and Idaho Streets would be easier to win approval and once it's done people will fall in love.

[trails]

Nice article Don. I'd been curious where things stood with the the transit issue -- thanks for bringing us up to speed and adding in the property details.

I love the idea of streetcars in general, but I just can't get my arms around how this could possibly be worth it at this time. Maybe it's just the route -- the notion of a circulator vs. point to point. Downtown is so small that in the space of a 15 minute headway, many people can walk to the destinations on that route in the same amount of time.

I wish they'd simply pick a neighborhood and make it an actual commuting transit option, such as coming right down 9th st, 13th, or harrison blvd in the north end, or the east end via Warm Springs or up onto the bench via Americana where people actually live. Or up Vista to the airport.

Boise is so flat and we have a lot of interest in cycling. For the downtown and West End (ahem West Downtown or whatever it is), why couldn't we just build the most luxurious cycle track system in the nation for 1/10th the cost of the tiny streetcar loop? That seems a better solution for downtown and BSU circulation which is already connected via the Greenbelt system. Then with the savings build a tram to Bogus!

So Don, could you clarify perhaps why the focus on the "circulating" option... or is simply just a place to start in a system that would later have end to end commuting routes added?

Originally Posted by DonDay

I did a deep dive into the potential streetcar project - funding sources, routes, back room deals etc.

Here it is:

"T" for transit: Decision made on Boise streetcar; inside the push to make it a reality

I'd be interested in your feedback!

[Cottonwood]

http://www.boiseweekly.com/boise/sou...nt?oid=3957586

Southwest to Launch Direct Nonstop From Boise to San Diego

[SFTransplant]

Originally Posted by Cottonwood

http://www.boiseweekly.com/boise/sou...nt?oid=3957586

Southwest to Launch Direct Nonstop From Boise to San Diego

Glad to see more SoCal opportunities but still waiting on that east coast hub nonstop

[Cottonwood]

Originally Posted by TakeFive

Image courtesy of Tucson RTA

I was looking for the mileage and the only place I could find it was on Transport Politic. They list a distance of 2.3 miles for a cost of ~$60 million. That's only for Main and Idaho Streets but it's a very good cost.

Big fan of streetcars. Kansas City recently opened their first 2.2 mile route for a cost of $102 million - but there's 4.4 miles of track since it runs both ways. It's a big hit and enough signatures have been collected to put a $1 billion 26-mile expansion on a ballot measure. Kansas City received $37.1 million in Federal grants.

Tempe AZ is approved for $75 million in Federal funds towards a cost of ~$180 million for a streetcar line that they hope to break ground on by the end of this year.

Just a guess that doing a Phase 1 that runs along Main and Idaho Streets would be easier to win approval and once it's done people will fall in love.

I have always thought that it has to begin somewhere and downtown seems logical. Boise used to have an extensive trolley/rail system so it seems inevitable that we will get a new system as the city and metro continue to grow.

[Cottonwood]

http://www.boiseweekly.com/boise/nex...nt?oid=3958509

Next Up: 'Right-Sizing' Boise's Main Street and Fairview Avenue

ACHD recommendations include:
•Reconfiguring Fairview between Whitewater Park Boulevard and 16th Street to provide three vehicle travel lanes, on-street parking on both sides of the street and a protected bike lane on the right side of the street.

•Reconfiguring Main Street between 16th Street and Whitewater Park Boulevard to provide three vehicle travel lanes, on-street parking on the left side of the street and a protected bike lane on the right side of the street.

•Adding another two-way cycle track to the north of Main Street across the Main Bridge.

•Adding another two-way cycle track to the south side of Fairview Avenue across the Fairview Bridge.

•Extending Fletcher Street between 27th Street and Fairview.

•Extending 26th Street south of Idaho Street.

•Expanding an alley running between Main and Fairview.

http://media2.fdncms.com/boiseweekly...?cb=1483886592



http://media2.fdncms.com/boiseweekly...?cb=1483886439

[OhGoodGlavin]

Originally Posted by SFTransplant

Glad to see more SoCal opportunities but still waiting on that east coast hub nonstop

I'm glad to see this too, but I would love even more to see more service to the LA area that's not LAX. Burbank or Orange County would, in particular, be really, really helpful.

[BNF]

Originally Posted by Cottonwood

http://www.boiseweekly.com/boise/nex...nt?oid=3958509

Next Up: 'Right-Sizing' Boise's Main Street and Fairview Avenue



http://media2.fdncms.com/boiseweekly...?cb=1483886592



http://media2.fdncms.com/boiseweekly...?cb=1483886439

Does anybody know why Main and Fairview's cross sections would be different. By my math they are the same width, so why not design them the same?

[hammersklavier]

Tbh I'm not a big fan of the way several recent streetcar projects have been installed. DC's H Street Streetcar albatross is by far the worst, of course, but both the Detroit and KC streetcars have been installed on nice wide avenues in cities with congestion "problems" that Northeasterners would laugh at. Or: the only reason why they are streetcars is because of an unwillingness to sacrifice car space in places where car space can be sacrificed.

Atlanta's streetcar has also had problems, more related to it functioning more like a mixed-traffic variant of Detroit's people mover than anything else IIRC.

I'm more inclined to give Cincy's streetcar a pass because, while it too is a loop, it looks like it's stuck with one-way pairs and it hits all of the major destinations in downtown and Over-the-Rhine in a reasonable way. But that city also has a never-used subway tunnel and an underutilized transportation center -- I kind of think that they need core transportation that uses and reuses these pieces (as I understand it, the KC, Detroit, and Cincy streetcars are meant to begin more extensive services).

After having disparaged just about every streetcar opening in the last five years, however, I also think that Boise is a small enough city that there's no real reason for anything heavier than streetcars, and even then only on the most heavily-traveled routes.

[Cottonwood]

https://arbiteronline.com/2017/01/16...versity-drive/

Bike lanes planned for University Drive

Boise State recently earned Gold designation by the League of American Bicyclists for bike friendliness. According to Alexander, the plan to add bike lanes to University Dr. is being pursued in the wake of the award. Along with other projects, staff at Campus Planning are hoping to propel Boise State to Platinum, the highest rating for bike friendliness.

http://www.valleyride.org/


Free Wi-Fi available on ValleyRide buses beginning Monday (January 30th)

[Cottonwood]

http://idahobusinessreview.com/2017/...ublic-transit/

Treasure Valley leaders face off on the future of public transit

The deck is not stacked hugely in the Boise region’s favor when it comes to public transit, experts say. For one thing, there is no dedicated funding mechanism in place or even on a distant horizon to build a transit system for the future.

For another, rural Idaho has little appetite for public transit needs in the Treasure Valley, and even legislators across the state’s most populous corridor don’t all sympathize with expenditures for public transit, said state Sen. Chuck Winder, a Boise Republican.

“While the need for a downtown circulator is easily understood, the question remains for many as to whether the circulator should take the form of a streetcar” was the 2010 summation of the Boise Streetcar Task Force in its feasibility study.

[TVurban]

http://idahobusinessreview.com/2017/...wn-circulator/

Open house planned on the return of the downtown circulator

The coming months could see decisions on the route and mode of transportation for a “downtown circulator” to get people across town and to Boise State University.

Another article on the proposed downtown circulator. There will be an open house on March 14, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at City Hall. It will announce the results on the several year long study.

[Cottonwood]

https://arbiteronline.com/2017/04/03...owntown-boise/

City of Boise finalizes proposal for circulator in downtown Boise

If approved by Boise City Council, the circulator would make a ‘T’ shape in the heart of Downtown Boise, running on W. Idaho Street and W. Main Street from St. Luke’s Medical Center to 15th St., and down to Boise State on S. Capital and 9th Street.

https://arbiteronline.com/wp-content...r_Downtown.png

[Visualize]

If the new stadium is really going to happen the tracks should go down River to Americana, rather than the west side of Main and 9th. Even if the stadium isn't built, the tracks should go down River. That entire area can be redeveloped to amazing potential if the city gets the zoning right, and it would provide complete access to Ann Morrison.