Stimulus funds could bring regional transportation to and from Teton Valley

Posted: Thursday, August 5, 2010 12:00 am | Updated: 8:22 pm, Wed Aug 4, 2010.

Ken Levy TVN Staff |

A major regional transportation initiative that would link the Teton Valley with Idaho Falls, Jackson and the national parks, Grand Targhee Resort and beyond depends on a TIGER.

Teton County is the project sponsor, along with the cities of Driggs and Victor, seeking to garner about $10 million in TIGER II funding for the project.

Administered by the U.S. Department of Transportation, TIGER II (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) is a competitive grant program for "projects that will have a significant impact on the nation, a metropolitan area or a region," according to the DOT.

The funds would be used for pathway projects, park-and-ride facilities, bus service and bus facilities, according to Driggs Mayor Dan Powers.

"The idea is to establish a real public transportation system here in Teton Valley," he said, "and going out to the bigger communities, such as Rexburg and Idaho Falls."

The project would provide fixed-route bus service between Idaho Falls Airport, the Idaho National Laboratory and Jackson, along with Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks, according to Kathy Rinaldi, Teton County commissioner. It would also "complete the 300-mile ‘Grand Bikeway' with approximately 50 miles of pathway and bike lane improvements between West Yellowstone, Mont. and Jackson Hole, via Driggs. The goal for the project is to promote economic stimulus through seamless mobility for residents and visitors," she said.

The program, according to Rinaldi, would enhance public transportation by providing needed infrastructure to expand and improve scheduled service. This would include a bus storage and maintenance facility in Driggs; five park-and-ride areas; seven buses with "real-time locator(s) and onboard Wifi," and multiple pathway connections.

The Pioneer Park Transit Center in Victor would tie into the regional transportation program by providing needed infrastructure to the overall system, according to Rinaldi. Funded by nearly $360,000 in stimulus funds through the Idaho Transportation Department, the project is being built by MD Nursery and Landscaping.

The multimodal transportation center's roughly 1.5-acre parking lot will accommodate 114 vehicles for commuters and carpoolers, according to Bill Knight, planning director for the City of Victor. Commuters can catch the START bus from the center. It should be operational by the third week in August, he said.

Separate grant funding is being sought for the second phase of the Victor center, which would include a 1,500 square-foot all-weather shelter, designed by Megan Powers and Rick Baldwin, that would reflect the city's architectural and transportation history, said Knight.

The facility would be the regional system's transit anchor point for the southern end of the Valley, he said.

The regional system would tie into Grand Targhee as well, and having bus service up to Targhee is a key element of the proposal, according to Powers. It would allow visitors to stay in Driggs and take the bus up to Targhee.

"Targhee would likely enter into an agreement with TRPTA (Targhee Regional Public Transportation Authority) to provide shuttle service from Driggs to the resort for both our guests and our employees," said Christina Thomure, sustainability director for Grand Targhee. "Having a local fixed-route system in Teton County, Idaho would help to improve mobility between Idaho Falls, Jackson, Salt Lake, and beyond with Driggs, which helps to bring more people to the area."

A preliminary application for the grant was filed July 26, according to Rinaldi. A full application detailing where the money would go, the economic development and environmental benefits and other components is due by Aug. 23.

"The county would be the administrator of the project, with the costs of administering included in the grant," Rinaldi said. "Because we are considered a rural community, no match is required. The minimum grant size is $1 million."

Results of the grant application won't be known until at least Sept. 15.

"We see this as a regional transportation effort," Powers said."We look at it from the greater Yellowstone-Teton perspective, making it part of this transportation scheme for the whole area. "

To contact Ken Levy e-mail reporter3@tetonvalleynews.net.

Jackson Hole Daily | Yellowstone records busiest month ever

Jackson Hole Daily | Yellowstone records busiest month ever

By Cory Hatch, Jackson Hole, Wyo.

August 5, 2010

More people visited Yellowstone National Park in July than in any other month since the park was established in 1872, National Park Service officials announced Wednesday.

The total of 957,000 recreation visitors entered the park’s gates, breaking last July’s record by 60,000 people, or 6.4 percent. June was also a record for that month in the park with 694,841 people.

“We set all kinds of records,” Yellowstone spokesman Al Nash said. “This is the second record month in a row that we’ve had a visitation record, the second year in a row that we’ve had a record July. It’s the all-time-high visitation for any month, and it’s the first time that our visitation for the first seven months of the year has topped the 2 million mark.”

The record number of visitors is attributed, in part, to the slow economy, Nash said.

“It may be a bit counter-intuitive, but I believe national park visitation benefits from our current national economic situation,” he said. “Visiting national parks is a great value, and you can plan a trip to places like Yellowstone and Grand Teton more easily reflecting your time and your wallet than you can many other vacation destinations.”

The South Entrance, the park’s gateway from Jackson Hole and Grand Teton National Park, recorded more than 210,000 visitors last month, up from 195,000 for July 2009, an increase of 7.9 percent.

“That continues to be the second-busiest entrance to Yellowstone,” Nash said.

Park employees have noticed the increase in visitors, Nash said.

“Everyone I’ve spoken with, no matter their job in the park, has talked about how busy they are in their respective job and how busy the park is,” he said.

Visitors are likely to notice a shortage of hotel rooms and campsites, as well as traffic congestion.

“If you’re looking for a room [or a campsite] in the park, we’re full in the early morning,” he said.

The chances of visitors experiencing a wildlife jam are also much greater than in years past, Nash said.

“This has been an extraordinarily good year for wildlife viewing,” he said.

So far this year, Yellowstone has shown increases in visitation compared with 2009 every month except May. Last year was a record year with more than 3.3 million visitors.