Ustick/Shamrock Study

ACHD has been "studying" Ustick Rd between Five Mile and Cloverdale for lo these many years now. This "study" includes the potential of connecting Shamrock from Ustick north to McMillan and Shamrock from Ustick to points south.

There are three alternatives that have been "studied". One is the alternative listed in the above paragraph, which also includes a signal at Shamrock - we'll call this one A.

Alternative B is to leave Shamrock unconnected and put a signal at Bryson.

Alternative C is to leave Shamrock and Bryson alone - basically a do nothing alternative.

In January 2009, ACHD planners sent out a letter to affected residents, property owners and other interested parties which basically said the ACHD commission would vote on Alternative A on March 25, 2009. This pushing of Alt A, however, ignored the over 400 petition signatures vehemently against Alt A and the majority of comments at the public information/comment meeting in November 2007 against Alt A. It was also known to staff that the position of the West Valley Neighborhood Association was up for review in February 2009 (and in fact, the WVNA came out strongly against Alt A).

When I questioned in January 2009 the statements in the letter and told staff that it read presenting Alt A as a done deal, I asked them to send a postcard out fixing this rather egregious overstepping of reality.

Well, they did send a postcard out - on March 16, 2009 - to inform the public that a meeting tentatively scheduled for March 25, 2009 would not take place and that it would be rescheduled maybe sometime whenever. But, they also continued to give the impression that the concept design of Alt A was still the one.

This is so irritating. Alt A may be what the staff prefers in the face of increasingly mounting opposition, but it is NOT a done deal until or even if, the ACHD Commission approves an alternative.

Since my comments in January 2009 were not recorded because for some reason we do not record any pre or post commission meetings, I took the opportunity to put my concerns on the record today. You can view the video at the following link in a week or so. Just go to the minutes of March 18, 2009 and click on the watch the meeting button.

http://www.achd.ada.id.us/MeetingsAgendas/CommissionMeeting.aspx

Once again, the Shamrock/Ustick concept is NOT a done deal.