One ACHD incumbent wins. The other loses.

Two incumbents on the Ada County Highway Commission faced challenges in a nonpartisan election where increasingly crowded roads were on voters’ minds.

One of them, District 3’s Paul Woods, of Boise, lost to challenger Mary May, of Eagle. District 3 runs from Downtown Boise to Eagle and Star along the Boise Foothills.

The other, Kent Goldthorpe of District 4, held off three challengers, including former Ada County Commissioner Dave Case, who lost his bid for re-election to that board in May’s Republican primary. District 4 occupies most of the area south of Interstate 84 and east of McDermott Road. Both Case and Goldthorpe live in Meridian.

The two other District 4 candidates, Christopher A. Campbell and Gary Schaeffer, were on the ballot, but neither raised money or filed all required campaign paperwork.

Candidates in both races responded to increasing anxiety among their constituents about rapid growth in the Treasure Valley and its effect on life here.

“Growth is the No. 1 issue, and congestion of traffic is the result,” Goldthorpe wrote in the Idaho Statesman voter guide.

But the candidates differed on how to deal with it.

Woods said the cities in Ada County must decide how they want growth to be managed, and ACHD should work with them to accomplish that vision. Case and May, an Eagle resident, agreed that growth has gotten ahead of road improvements. Goldthorpe recommended better bike lanes and other amenities for non-car traffic in the county’s employment centers, such as Downtown Boise.

May stressed the importance of collaboration between the highway district and other governments in the county, including the cities, whose transportation wishes sometimes have clashed with the decisions of the district’s board.

Goldthorpe and Case both backed a proposed increase in the district’s vehicle registration fees, though Goldthorpe voted against it in July because he wanted to ensure half the money was spent on amenities like bike lanes, sidewalks and better accommodations for public transportation.

The two disagreed on whether the district should lobby the Legislature to allow high-occupancy vehicle lanes on busy roads like State Street. Goldthorpe favored state authorization for HOV lanes. Case did not.

Woods, a former Ada County commissioner, also supported HOV-lane legislation. His opponent was open to the idea, but not convinced.

“I believe we must be cautious before removing an entire lane from the flow of traffic on some of our busiest roadways,” May wrote in the voter guide.

May is a member and past president of the College of Western Idaho Foundation’s board. She is a business consultant, owner of the Eagle Food and Wine Festival and a leader of the Central Valley Expressway Coalition, which has sought to extend Idaho 16 from Idaho 44 south to Interstate 84.

The winners will serve four-year terms.

This story was originally published November 7, 2018 at 2:33 AM.