Letters to the Editor

Watts letter: Wildlife overpasses

On July 1, 2015, the Idaho gas tax and vehicle registration fees were increased. From the Idaho State Journal: “TRANSPORTATION: Lawmakers passed a $95 million transportation plan designed to help repair Idaho’s crumbling bridges and roads. This means vehicle-registration fees are going up $21 and Idaho residents will pay 7 cents more for gas. However, the new plan falls short of the $262 million funding shortfall the state has faced each year since 2010 to maintain upkeep on its transportation infrastructure.” Idahoans were told by the governor and the legislators that the increased taxes and fees would be used to repair our roads and bridges. The Idaho Transportation Department is now considering spending millions of our federal and state gas tax dollars on wildlife overpasses and fences in ITD district 6, leaving less funding for the remainder of the state. Have the people of Idaho been misled? Unelected bureaucrats in ITD should not have the authority to spend millions of dollars on new wildlife overpasses that have not been authorized by our Legislature and governor. How could they even consider this expenditure when the maintenance backlog for roads and bridges is so profound? Call your legislators.

Kenneth D. Watts, Island Park

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