Team Up With School Officials To Get Kids To School Safely

With school getting ready to start again, the Idaho Transportation Department wants to remind parents and school staff of it's Safe Routes to School (SR2S) program. The program helps communities support more children walking and bicycling to school to combat problem such as obesity and other health issues and air pollution from parents dropping kids off at school in vehicles, when they could have walked or ridden their bikes.

Childhood obesity has increased more than fourfold among children ages 6 to 11 since the 1970s. SR2S is designed for children from kindergarten through eighth grade, including those with disabilities, who live within walking and biking distance of school.

If you're interested in how to get more children to school under their own power in your neighborhood, ITD officials ask you to contact your local school officials and parent groups. There is also more information on Safe Routes to School on the ITD website.

Report Says Idaho Lost More Jobs Than ARRA Provided

A new analysis of the 2009 federal stimulus package shows that job losses have outpaced jobs created by the program in Idaho.

The report says Idaho’s workforce dropped by 14,600 employees since February 2009.

Here's the story from the 'IdahoReport.com'.

Fido Doesn't Belong In The Driver Seat

I love my dog and all and she definetely goes in the car with me, but on my lap?? Never! Besides the fact that she's too big to be a lapdog, that would get in the way of texting, smoking, and playing with the radio. Just kidding, I don't do any of that while driving, but a new survey conducted by AAA says a LOT of dog owners drive with their dogs in their laps, and do some even more risky things.

Here's the article from the Coeur d'Alene Press. Take a look and let me know if you partake in any of these dangerous behaviors. I think the worst I've done is try to drive into a pole and kill us all one time when my emotionally unbalanced cat Bob mysteriously got out of his carrier during a car trip.

Seems As Good A Place As Any To Crash

The Spokesman-Review's 'Huckleberries' blog reports that there's been a collision between an automobile and a bicyclist. That's the bad news. The good news is it happened at the entrance to Kootenai Medical Center. Seems ironic, huh?

US 95 Traffic To Switch Lanes This Friday

The Idaho Transportation Department says two-way traffic will switch this Friday (Aug. 20) to the new northbound lanes on U.S. 95 from Wyoming Avenue to Idaho 53.

West Lancaster Road will be closed and Lancaster between U.S. 95 and Government Way will be re-opened. East- and westbound Boekel Road also will be re-opened.

Crews have finished the two-lane northbound section and median. Construction on the southbound lanes will begin Monday, Aug. 23.

The speed limit will be reduced to 45 miles per hour at all times through the length of the project corridor.

The project is funded with savings from federal highway stimulus projects bid earlier this year. The project is expected to be finished by this October.

Trail Goes Through Heart Of Burn Area

Want a fun way to teach the kids about history, without them even knowing that they're learning something? Take them for a ride on the Route of the Hiawatha trail and stop to read the signs.

The signs commemorate the 1910 Fires in Idaho and Montana, and make the ride not only beautiful and fun, but interesting too. Here's an article from the Spokesman-Review about the trail and its' connection to the fires.

New Site Estimates What You're Paying For Transportation Monthly

Holy cow, I'm bleeding from my eyes! I just used the new
Abogo website that gives you an estimate on what you pay in transportation costs per month, based on the neighborhood you live in. My estimate was $1045, hence the bleeding from the eyes. It said the regional average is $826 though, which still is a lot of money.

The site takes into consideration factors such as car ownership, car use, and transit use. The site draws on nine data sets, mostly from the U.S. census, that include density, average commute time, commuters per household, and a transit connectivity index. It also calculates greenhouse-gas emissions from transportation.

All you have to do is get on the site and type in your address and the magic number pops up. Here's the site again. Check it out and let me know how much it says you're paying for transportation.

County clears the way for impact fees

After back-to-back hearings on Thursday night, the Kootenai County commissioners passed one of two measures that would allow for impact-fee funded improvement projects, aimed at helping taxing districts accommodate new growth.

The commissioners voted unanimously to approve an amendment to the Capital Improvements Chapter of the county Comprehensive Plan.

The amendment doesn't enact Capital Improvement Plans (CIPS), or projects to help districts improve their services, but simply expedites the process to update those plans.

"This is just an amendment to the Comp Plan to clean the process up," said Commissioner Todd Tondee.

The officials also voted unanimously to table deliberations on the more controversial issue of the night, the Kootenai County Development Impact Fee Ordinance.

The new law would create development fees to fund only growth-related projects for highway districts, EMS, fire districts, the sheriff's department, the jail, and the county Parks and Waterways Department.

Read the full story here

Nettleton Gulch Water Main Replacement Project Begins August 16th

The City of Coeur d'Alene will close a portion of Nettleton Gulch Road for a water main replacement project on Monday, August 16th, at 7:00 a.m. Eastbound vehicles will be detoured at 19th Street and westbound vehicles at Maple Leaf Road. Local access will be maintained. The street should be reopened by 5:00 p.m. on September 10th.

The purpose of the project is to replace an outdated water main that currently lies at the base of the road across private property. For more information, please contact the Water Department at 769-2210.

Hey, Who Approved This?

I need a vacation. Yeah, I know I just got back from one, but I need another. I'm not sure how I talked the boss into another one so soon. Maybe it was that full body tremor I developed over the past couple months. Doesn't matter, he approved it.

Anyway, I'm out of here at close of business tonight, so Jeff Selle in our office will be your fill-in blogger. He has to blog on top of his other duties though, so won't crank out as much content as me most likely. He loves comments though, so oblige him and give lots of comments. And enjoy your week.

Stimulus Money Pays For Street Tree Project

The City of Coeur d'Alene has started a new project to trim or remove dead and diseased trees causing a danger along public streets- and it's being paid for with federal stimulus money.

The project started on Monday will repair or remove 200 trees throughout the city.
Here's the story from KHQ news.

Citylink Numbers Continue To Increase

Where is Citylink finding all these people? I mean it's great, but the amount by which their ridership numbers are increasing each month is incredible.

Here are the numbers from July.

Wow, who'd a thunk it?

Bike agenda spins cities toward U.N. control, candidate warns

Republican gubernatorial candidate Dan Maes is warning voters that Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper's policies, particularly his efforts to boost bike riding, are "converting Denver into a United Nations community."

"This is all very well-disguised, but it will be exposed," Maes told about 50 supporters who showed up at a campaign rally last week in Centennial.

Maes said in a later interview that he once thought the mayor's efforts to promote cycling and other environmental initiatives were harmless and well-meaning. Now he realizes "that's exactly the attitude they want you to have." Read more here

Otter Dismisses Gas Tax Cut Proposal

Gov. Butch Otter has dismissed Democratic challenger Keith Allred’s proposal for a 3-cent cut in Idaho’s 25-cent-per-gallon gas tax and a corresponding hike in fees on heavy trucks, saying it shows “a lack of leadership and credibility.”

Here's more on the story from the 'Eye on Boise' blog.

Custom Plates Cost State

Those custom license plates you see are actually costing Idaho money. The state is losing about $3 per plate in fact.

Here's the story from the IdahoReporter.com.

KMPO Board Meeting This Week

KMPO's monthly Board meeting is this Thursday, August 5 at 1:30 p.m. at Post Falls City Council Chambers, 408 N. Spokane Street. Here's this month's agenda.

If you see anything that interests you, feel free to attend the meeting. Board meetings are always open to the public and there's a public comment item on the agenda so you can say your piece too.

As gas prices continue to soar...

Photo by: ZUMApress.com
Hindu devotees travel on the roof of a train after participating in Guru Purnima Festival in Mathura, India. Guru Purnima Festival is celebrated by paying tribute to teachers by disciples or students.

I predict if we build light rail into Spokane, our trains would look like this at rush hour...

Task Force Suggests Raising Gas Tax

A panel investigating how to shore up Idaho highway funding ranks boosting the gas tax by a penny as its top pick. The Transportation Funding Task Force says the hike, from 25 cents, would raise $8.2 million annually to bolster road and bridge maintenance.

Here's more from 'Financial News USA.'

Why Not Electric Planes?

Electric cars are very common these days- so why not electric planes? That's what Boeing thought, and now they're working on a concept airplane that is propelled by turbine engines and electric motors.

Here's the story from the Spokesman-Review.

KMPO MTP Too Big To Email To You

So I made a mistake in the last KMPO newsletter. KMPO is in the process of revising it's Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP), which is the long-term plan for transportation in Kootenai County. It's a HUGE document. In the last newsletter, I wrote that I was starting a distribution list to email the document out to those who are interested when a draft is ready.

Well, turns out that the MTP is too big to email. So what we're doing instead is breaking it up into sections and posting it to the KMPO website. It's not there yet though, so I'll post something when the draft is available.