Middleton said no to Idaho 44 bypass as it seeks more business. How will city change?

The time for the Idaho Transportation Department’s Idaho 44 bypass in Middleton has passed, according to the Middleton City Council and Mayor Steve Rule.

Middleton is facing a growth problem. It has plenty of homes but not enough commercial development to keep the tax base healthy, city officials said. Over the past month, Rule and the council decided that they were done waiting around for the bypass, arguing that the city was losing commercial developers. City officials said builders were not interested in developing property next to the bypass, but were instead interested in riverfront land that would be cut off by a new road.

Idaho 44, known as State Street in Boise, runs from downtown Boise to Interstate 84 in Middleton. ITD has spent over 20 years planning the bypass around the city to help reduce congestion on the current highway, whose speed limit is 25 mph through the city. That process came to an end Wednesday.

The City Council spent more than four hours in a public hearing to decide whether to make a comprehensive plan amendment to remove the bypass. The council then voted unanimously to remove it, making space for future commercial and residential development and giving the city access to the Boise River to its south.

The city had to consider a number of issues regarding the bypass: how the city could address congestion on the current road without a bypass, whether the bypass would harmcommercial development with few access points planned along it, and whether the bypass would close doors to development opportunities near the river.

Middleton needs more commercial development

The lengthy Wednesday night hearing followed a long Planning and Zoning Commission meeting on Aug. 9.

During that meeting, the commission had a public hearing to decide on a 117-acre subdivision from developer Tyler Hess, of Hess properties. Hess proposed a large mixed-use subdivision on the southeast corner of Idaho 44 and Middleton Road — right where the proposed bypass would go.

Hess’ River Pointe Subdivision would be on existing agricultural land owned by the Watkins family, a longtime farming family in Middleton. Hess’ goal was to align his plan for new homes and commercial buildings with the city’s idea for a large network of paths, parks and ponds, called the River Park Plan.

The Planning and Zoning Commission recommended that the council approve the subdivision, but leave the bypass in the plan. The commissioners believed Hess could work with ITD on how to make the development work with the road included.

The bypass was set to be a curved highway south of downtown Middleton that would reduce traffic to schools and businesses.

Speaking during the City Council hearing, Becky Crofts, city administrator, criticized ITD. She said that Middleton residents have not been a priority over the past 20 years and that the bypass would take another 10 or 15 years to be built. She said the bypass has cost the city commercial development and would continue to do so even after it was built.

“The city of Middleton is about 95% residential and 5% commercial,” Crofts said. “That is not a healthy place for the city to be when you talk about tax funding. We need to be able to make that switch to 80/20. If we can bring in a commercial corridor, we will have additional funding to help fund our schools, our police and our city infrastructure.”

Crofts said the city’s River Park Plan concept would encourage economic development, establish the commercial corridor the city needs and provide residents with a community gathering spot for recreation, restaurants, shopping and events.

Rule agreed with Crofts that the bypass has cost the city commercial development and tax revenue.

“I met yesterday with a large firm that represents places like McDonald’s and Maverik,” Rule said. “I know (they) came and looked at us and then melted away, because we can’t decide what to do here because of this alternative route coming through.”

Hess’ subdivision would include 81 single-family homes and 36 acres of commercial development with 31 buildings.

One of the city’s other concerns was that the planned bypass would have had limited entry and exit points, making a commercial corridor harder to reach.

“Today the concept shows limited access,” Crofts said.

Idaho Transportation’s opposition

ITD opposed the removal of the bypass plan.

In defense of the access points, Caleb Lakey, the department’s District 3 administrator, said the alternative route would have five of them.

“I do not believe that the alternate route and development are mutually exclusive,” he said. “There are opportunities to work with development, to show the alternate route, and also produce development that was feasible and economically viable.”

With the city’s decision not to keep the bypass in its comprehensive plan, Lakey said ITD would be forced to look for other options to address congestion on Idaho 44. The highway department does not see any viable alternatives to the north or south for an alternative route, he said.

“Highway 44 could remain through town,” Lakey said. “If we were to extend that highway to accommodate five lanes of traffic with two lanes going each way and a center turn lane, there would be significant impacts to downtown businesses.”

Idaho 44 is only a two-lane road through Middleton. Lakey said the department could explore a four-lane road, but that would reduce access to businesses and make travel difficult.

Two downtown business owners testified in favor of keeping the bypass in the plan to avoid destroying downtown businesses with a widening project.

During the 2021 session, the Legislature approved $350 million for transportation projects. Lakey said the Middleton bypass would be at the top of the list of projects to fund.

The reason the bypass took so long, Lakey and other ITD staffers said, is because the demand for other transportation projects was greater in previous years and the funding was low. Now with congestion worse than ever in Middleton, the project was bumped up on the department’s priority list.

The City Council and Rule were not convinced.

“I am out of time,” Rule said. “I need economic development now.

“The reason we have trouble as a city is I have no tax base. The police department is really upset, because I don’t have another $800,000 or $1 million to get them seven or eight more officers’ cars, vests and other things.

“The cities around us have property taxes, $3-4-5 million that they could fund police departments. We don’t have that. We have $2.3 million, and we are half the size.

“We don’t have the businesses, we don’t have commerce or industry, to support the tax base it takes to have the public safety that everybody here wants.”

When the city revised its comprehensive plan in 2019, which is required by state law every 10 years, it included the bypass. The council decided to amend the plan to remove the bypass and extend its area of impact, or the area of unincorporated Canyon County where the city plans to expand.

The Board of Canyon County Commissioners has to approve Middleton’s comprehensive plan revision before it is finalized. A meeting with the commissioners has not been set.

Rachel Spacek covers western Ada and eastern Canyon counties. Have a story suggestion or a question? Email Spacek at rspacek@idahostatesman.com.

This story was originally published September 18, 2021 at 4:00 AM.

Rachel Spacek

Idaho Statesman

Rachel Spacek is a former reporter covering Meridian, Eagle, Star and Canyon city and county governments for the Idaho Statesman.