City prepares for busy construction season

An extension to the public trail system and renovations to the city airport highlighted a list of projects set to begin over the next few months.

The finalized plans for this year's street program is expected to be approved by the city council in the next few weeks.

Work is expected to begin in late May to pave a 1.2 mile gravel pathway between North 18th East Street and East 8th North Street across from the city police station.

Known as the Desert Canyon Trail, it will connect to an existing walking path originally paved in 2002 as part of the Mountain Home Pathway System.

The initial 1.3 mile trail begins at North 3rd East Street across from Legacy Park and continues south of the interstate to North 18th East Street near the overpass.

When complete, the newly surfaced pathway will allow walkers, runners, bicyclists and those with various disabilities to fully use the entire 2.5 mile trail complex.

Meanwhile, the public works department hopes to secure additional grants that would pay to install a fence along part of the trail extension along with benches and other amenities. The fence would protect pedestrians and bicyclists using a section of the trail that runs parallel to the 15th hole at the Desert Canyon Golf Course.

The Desert Canyon Trail resurfacing project is just part of a long-term effort aimed at bringing even more amenities to the Mountain Home community.

The project includes paving a 10-spot parking area at the trail head on East 8th North Street near the city police station to create a new, multi-use parking area at the trail head. The city is currently leasing the 8.3 acres of land from the Idaho Transportation Department as part of a currently, 25-year agreement.

This multi-use parking complex, which the city will call the Mountain Home Park and Ride Lot, will primarily serve as a central parking area for Mountain Home residents that commute to and from Boise. The parking area is expected to accommodate vans owned by the Ada County Highway District as well as others who carpool.

But the 10-spot parking area is just a start. Shepherd said the city is expected to receive an additional grant that would allow it to expand this parking area by another 50 spaces.

Also in the works is another state grant request that if approved would put the final touches on this park and ride complex. In addition to building a bus waiting area, these funds would pay for bike shelters and public lockers.

In related news, city officials currently expect work to begin in July at the city airport. The city received a matching grant from the Federal Aviation Administration to rebuild the 5,000 foot runway as well as the parallel taxiway.

In addition to aircraft owned by local private pilots, the city airport serves as a seasonal base for crop dusters as well as aerial fire suppression tankers from the Bureau of Land Management. However, the project ran into a roadblock after bids submitted by prospective contractors would've put the project more than $100,000 over budget.

The Idaho Transportation Division of Aeronautics was able to divert some funds to help cover some of this additional expense by transferring $300,000 in airport improvement plan, or AIP, entitlements from Butte County and the city of Arco. During a meeting Monday evening, the city council unanimously agreed to accept the funds, which includes a provision that would require the city to return half of those funds to Arco and Butte at a later date.

The airport project, which is currently expected to continue through mid-October, coincides with southern Idaho's range fire season. Construction would start on the active runway, which would require pilots to use the taxiway to launch and land their aircraft.

Because the taxiway is 1,800 feet shorter than the runway, it's likely that some larger aircraft, including the BLM air tankers, will need to find an alternate site until the runway project is complete, Shepherd said.