Madison County master development plan needs public input
Madison County is hitting its stride and its growing fast. Although many welcome new businesses, restaurants, and stores, most don’t welcome the increase in traffic congestion.
That’s why county, city, and state leaders are all working with engineers from Horrocks Engineering to create a master transportation plan.
“We’re looking at alternatives, looking at impacts, looking at things that could affect (transportation),” said Kelly Hoopes with Horrocks Engineering.
One of the biggest areas that leaders are looking at is Second East in Rexburg. The road is already congested and slow during rush hour. Hoopes said with it being one of the few roads in town that crosses the South Fork of the Teton River, he only expects it to get bigger.
Leaders are tossing several ideas to fix the Second East problem.
One would be to create a couplet-style road system, where Third East would become a one-way street for north traffic, and Main Street would become a one-way street for south traffic.
“That being said, that’s just an alternative that we’re looking at,” said Hoopes. “We’re limited on how many alternatives there are for Second East.”
County leads said they have ideas, but now they need to hear what the public thinks before they finalize any plans.
“Certainly we can hire an engineering firm and do all the crunching of the numbers,” said County Commissioner Jon Weber. “But we recognize that we don’t have all the answers. They (the public) might come up with ideas and suggestions we simply didn’t think of.”
Madison County is holding two open houses where people can learn from and give their opinions to leaders. One is Wednesday at the Madison County Commissioners Chamber from 5 to 7 p.m. The second meeting is Thursday at the Rexburg City Council chamber from 5 to 7 p.m.
