Now is not the time to bury our heads in the sand

Kuna City Council member Lisa Bachman last month brought up the need for Kuna to get involved in Ada County Highway District’s Transportation Land Use Integration Plan. ACHD’s Transportation and Land Use Integration Plan, or TLIP, is “an attempt to better link land-use and transportation planning,” according to their web site.
“The plan will feature policy decisions — such as which roads will become higher-volume, higher speed ‘mobility corridors’ and which will remain smaller, lower-volume facilities — that are expected to generate great public interest,” according to ACHD.
Kuna city officials, perhaps justifiably so, are skeptical of ACHD’s motives. Some have suggested that ACHD is trying to get into the land use business, which is the purview of cities. They fear ACHD will run roughshod over municipal decisions regarding subdivisions and commercial centers, using TLIP as justification for opposing a project.
But sticking your head in the sand and saying you’re not going to cooperate or participate is not the right answer. Look at Idaho Power’s plan to put a 230,000-volt transmission line through the middle of downtown Kuna. Kuna didn’t participate in the planning, so folks from Meridian and Eagle and Boise drew a line on a map that puts a series of 120-foot metal poles through Kuna. They must still be laughing at the little fast one they pulled on Kuna.
So Bachman’s admonition to participate in ACHD’s TLIP is a wise one that Kuna would do well to heed.