By Darrell KerbyBack in the day—okay, maybe just a few years ago—I went toe-to-toe with the Idaho Transportation Department, lobbying for a traffic light at US 95 and Alderson Lane. After crunching the numbers, they agreed, and up went the light.
My reasoning? Safety. Bonners Ferry’s roads aren’t laid out like a big city’s; there’s no handy bypass or parallel streets to help folks scoot around town. If you want to get anywhere, you’ve got to tango with Highway 95—the de facto Main Street, running north to south through the city.
The light wasn’t just about one intersection—it was about creating much-needed gaps in highway traffic, giving drivers on side streets a fighting chance to pull out without playing a real-life game of Frogger.
Fast forward a few years, and after I retired as Mayor, poof! — the light vanished. Why? Beats me. But what I do know is that now, the wait times are longer, the dart-and-dash maneuvers are wilder, and the number of folks flooring it into traffic is downright impressive—if not terrifying. Progress… Who knew, right? Sigh.
Well… maybe you have a point Darrel. While you pat yourself on the back for a time in history, I haven’t heard of anybody complaining or better yet, I haven’t heard of any accidents. Have you? If you’re so concerned about there not being a light at Alderson Lane, maybe you might consider promoting a bypass like was suggested in the past and see how that works for you, if indeed you are feeling unsafe with the traffic on 95…..