ACHD candidates take on hot topics: Traffic snarls, self-driving cars, e-scooters
Three candidates for Ada County Highway District talked traffic jams, natural disasters and how technology is changing transportation at a forum Thursday morning.
ACHD runs road construction and maintenance across the state’s fastest-growing county, including within Boise and other cities. Only half of the candidates vying for two seats on its governing board showed up for the forum, hosted by the Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce.
The agency’s District 3 covers the county’s northern edge, including Downtown and Northwest Boise, Eagle and most of Star. Incumbent Paul Woods talked about his experience on the highway commission. Challenger Mary May was not present.
District 4, the other seat, covers Kuna, southern parts of Boise and Meridian, and the southern unincorporated parts of the county. Incumbent Kent Goldthorpe and one challenger, outgoing Ada County Commissioner Dave Case, talked about their experiences in public service. Challengers Christopher Campbell and Gary Schaeffer were not present.
The candidates’ responses here have been edited for length and clarity.
ACHD commissioners serve four-year terms. Unlike some other races, ACHD commissioners are only chosen by the residents of their specific zones. The District 3 and 4 seats are on the Nov. 6 ballot. Read more about the candidates in the Statesman’s 2018 voter guide.
What should ACHD’s role be in emergencies?
The candidates were asked to consider the closure of the Cloverdale bridge — following a fiery truck crash that killed four people in June — and the flooding in early 2017 that resulted from unprecedented snowfall that winter.
District 3
Woods: “We’re not authorized to call for an incident command center to be set up, but we support that. In the winter of 2017, ACHD was part of the Snowmageddon and really worked with our partners to identify vulnerable populations in the community. And I really give credit to our staff in being able to map out and identify where vulnerable populations are and provide the necessary safety infrastructure to be able to serve them. Same thing with the hospitals; we partnered with the hospitals to make sure vital routes were made open.”
District 4
Goldthorpe: “I consider ACHD to be a model of response to emergency situations, and anyone who might not agree with that probably hasn’t been around here very long. During the flooding incident of 2017, ACHD was considered the gold standard in managing that emergency. I’ve been a member of the Ada County Emergency Management governing board for two years, and Commissioner Case has been on that the whole time as well. And I’m incredibly proud of the measures that both ACHD and Ada County took in working through that emergency.
“And through almost immediate — I mean, within minutes — the collaboration between ITD and ACHD in the Cloverdale corridor, including that bridge, has been nothing short of incredible. And it will be open on June 17 of next year.”
Case: “ACHD’s role in that [2017 flooding] was vital. They’re the folks that have all the construction stuff. And believe me, when the phone call was made, they were there without any hesitation and jumped in and really did a phenomenal job. They showed up with their equipment and their gravel. But it was a collaborative effort amongst all the cities.
“I think we’re prepared for any emergency that would hit us.”
Are arterial road projects moving fast enough to keep up with growth?
District 3
Woods: “I think this is the question that the vehicle registration fee is going to gauge the community’s interest and whether improvements are moving fast enough or not. I think now is the right time to ask the community that question, so we’re going to have an answer to that soon enough.
“The state highway system is really the backbone of the Treasure Valley. So to the degree that the state highway system doesn’t provide for capacity, then that burden transfers to Ada County Highway District. We need to be working in partnership with ITD, and having ITD have the same vision of how important it is to make sure our transportation infrastructure is keeping up.”
District 4
Goldthorpe: “No. But then again, we really don’t consider anything happening fast enough to keep up with growth in Ada County. Even if we had all the money to fix things now, all the contractors are so busy that we’d have to schedule sometimes far out in the future. However, the State Street corridor will be the experiment that — with proper partnerships, attitudes and collaboration — will provide the ‘proof of concept’ for that solution working well or poorly in this valley.”
Case: “I think, given the amount of money that is available, and the fact that we’re dealing with the entire county ... I think it’s moving along very well. It’s not just the City of Boise that ACHD has to serve. It’s the entire county. If I’m representing the district that I’m running for, I also have to look after the needs of Kuna and Meridian and what’s going on out there. You’ve got phenomenal growth out there, and with that phenomenal growth, you’ve got the need for roadways. It’s a fine line when you have to appease six different cities as well as unincorporated Ada County.
“I think it’s going well. I see a lot of the projects ... being completed or in progress, so I think it’s going good.”
What’s your take on self-driving cars?
District 3
Woods: “We’re already texting while driving, so we’ve got that going. (laughter) But, ACHD staff is participating in the governor’s task force on this issue. I don’t see any evidence that autonomous vehicles reduce the vehicle miles traveled. So, I think as we look at congestion mitigation, I don’t know that autonomous vehicles relieve congestion.
“The cities are more on the forefront of this. What does it mean for parking structures? How do we accommodate that infrastructure is a conversation we’ll continue to have.”
District 4
Goldthorpe: “It seems like every other week you’re reading about a new study that places where an autonomous vehicle is being modeled or tried, that there are more cars on the road rather than less. So, I don’t know that parking is going to be as big of an issue as Clay Carley and others are worried about, but I do know that we have to be prepared for whatever it is that does come.”
Case: “I think it’s a matter of everybody, again, getting at the table to find out what it’s going to entail. And getting ahead of it as far as what type of laws need to be passed or what are the techniques that the roadways need to be looked at in order for autonomous vehicles to operate. ... Then once that tech reaches our area, we’re ready to deal with it.”
What is the role of ACHD in managing electric scooters?
District 3
Woods: “It’s ACHD’s right of way, but we really license the activities that go on there to the cities. To the degree that it becomes an Americans with Disabilities Act violation, ACHD then steps in to make sure that we’re not getting ourselves in an ADA compliance issue. So, for example, with the City of Meridian, when that rolled out, it was really authorized by the City of Meridian. Then, people started calling in and complaining. People were calling the Meridian Police Department. They contacted us, we went out and picked up some of the scooters, brought them back to our yard, and they had to come get them.
“The rollout in downtown city of Boise ... they’ve tried to learn lessons from other places, they’ve been communicating with groups — the Downtown Boise Association — so really, the city will lead that effort. And to the degree that it starts to create a problem, I think they have the authorities in place to be able to correct that problem. Were that not to be the case, we have trucks we can throw those things in and bring them back to our yard.
“I think that what we’re going to learn is, if that’s the future, that type of mobility, then we need to plan for it in our infrastructure.”
District 4
Goldthorpe: “First of all, it has to be safe. So far, it has proven to be anything but. We’ve had discussions with at least one of those companies in work sessions, and pretty much everything that was told us was going to happen didn’t. So there’s a lot to work out with regard to that particular aspect of modes of alternative transportations.”
Case: “It seems like this is one of those things where the cart got before the horse, and the horse got out of the barn. Getting rules and regulations put down and trying to enforce them and get folks to go through with the concept is where the problem lies. It’s a mess.”