Surkamer letter: Boise-ACHD

Regarding the Jan. 29 editorial regarding Boise City and ACHD:

Mayor Bieter and “his” council shouldn’t be allowed to decide this major shift in policy. This is a voter issue, to be shared with voters on a level that is objective and relevant to each of the community partners.

I confess to a bias on issues with ACHD, from their declaration of our dangerous foothills road of Highland View as a “Collector,” to the way they plow. Once told by the ACHD plow driver he can’t go toward the curb as that isn’t policy. Only plowing down the middle of the street. Yet we are a collector with no sidewalks. Leaving a four-foot mass of snow/ice blocking storm drains, making for a jack-hammer challenge for our driveway access.

Cost per mile benchmarks and other critical metrics for financial performance, service, and quality need be addressed. But the lack of integration of traffic and property development because of these two major independent organizations of the City Council and ACHD has to be fixed. ACHD, despite the conflicts this winter, appears to see the city of Boise as their largest customer, and not the taxpayers of the county.

This story was originally published February 10, 2017 at 7:04 PM with the headline "Surkamer letter: Boise-ACHD."