Changes, not lawsuit, have complicated route

Just to set the record straight on the current status of the Sand Creek "byway:"

1. ITD has responded to only one of 17 items in the March 15 U.S. Army Corps letter requesting more information for ITD's fill and dredge permit application. The Corps letter instructed ITD to re-survey wetlands in the project area due to inaccuracies in the original survey. ITD submitted a new wetlands survey, but the agency has yet to divulge how many additional acres of wetlands will be impacted by the project or produce a mitigation plan for those acres.

The Corps cannot issue a permit until all 17 of the items are addressed in full.

2. The state's lakebed encroachment permit is also on hold until ITD responds in full to the Corps letter.

3. After almost three years of negotiations with the BNSF Railway, ITD has still not acquired the railroad property needed to construct the highway up the creek.

Construction cannot begin until all permits are issued and the BNSF property is acquired.

Folks who are frustrated because this project has been in the works for so many years should remember that major changes were made to the project just three years ago. One, adding the south bound off ramp (at the request of the city) required expanding the project to three lanes and dredging and filling the creek. The changes have made it much more difficult and complicated (perhaps even impossible) to get the required permits.

LIZ SEDLER

Sandpoint

NICAN