Garden City Mayor announces pedestrian and cycling bypass

On Monday, October 22nd, the Mayor of Garden City (John G. Evans) announced plans to bypass State Street to provide a connection from Ulmer Lane to Riverside Drive. Here is specific announcement from the Mayor. For additional information, and to see maps of the new connetion, go the Garden City website at http://www.gardencityidaho.govoffice.com/

State Street Bypass Pathway Connection

My continuing effort to make the connection between Ulmer Land and Riverside Drive began in December of 2005. The current proposed connection represents the third attempt to find a pedestrian and bicycle route that bypasses State Street. The route that I am announcing was identified by the City’s GIS staff person. She identified a 10 foot wide exclusive easement held by Drainage District No. 2 that was acquired at the time the Wakefield Subdivision was platted. A site inspection established that the exclusive easement area was segregated from the non encumbered portion of the affected property by a six foot fence.

With council approval I petitioned the Drainage District No. 2 Board of Directors at their August 1, 2007, board meeting and asked them if they would consider granting the City a license agreement to overlay their exclusive easement with an asphalt pathway. Chairman Jim Payne and the Board granted my request and subsequently prepared the agreement. The Ada County Highway District has also indicated that they would consider an arrangement allowing the pathway to cross a portion of their right of way to establish the connection between the exclusive easement and the Ulmer Lane pavement.

With the approval of the license agreement by the Drainage District and the cooperation of the Highway District the City is now in a position to initiate the necessary procedure to acquire rights from the underlying land owners. The property has been appraised and the underlying land owners have been notified via certified mail of the City’s intent to acquire the rights to the affected property.

Going forward we will complete the acquisition process, prepare construction plans and solicit bids to complete the work. Our goal is to have it ready for the spring season. It is very important to note that the cooperation of Drainage District No. 2 and the Ada County Highway District have made this connection possible.

We have posted maps of the new connection on our website under the “Greenbelt Pathway Connection” tab. If you have any questions about our efforts, please contact my office at 472-2927.
Thank you.
John G. Evans
Mayor of Garden City