A second bridge over the Snake River north of Jackson could reduce traffic on Moose-Wilson Road by almost half but would increase congestion on Highway 26/89/191 north of town, transportation consultants say.

The results from a traffic analysis were presented Thursday to a joint town and county transportation advisory committee. The report, titled “Where is Travel Headed in Teton County,” was prepared by Fehr & Peers of Colorado.

Among its biggest findings is that a north bridge between the airport area and Teton Village would increase traffic on Highway 191 and that overall traffic has been growing at a rate of 3.5 percent a year. The study also concluded that congestion at the intersection of Highways 22 and 89, the “Y” intersection, is so bad traffic engineers consider the crossroads as “failing.”

The study was conducted in conjunction with the update to the Jackson/Teton County Comprehensive Plan and included a new bridge even though the concept is fraught with controversy. Neighborhoods, Grand Teton National Park lands, sensitive riparian property and conservation easements lie between the two end points.

“When you are doing any master planning, you have to ask the questions ‘what would happen if we did this or that,’” County Engineer Jeff Hermansky said at the presentation. “The consultants did just that without any consideration for the political aspects that may be associated.”

New connectors

According to the report, consultants studied how three new connector roads would impact travel throughout the valley.

The first was a north bridge, or crossing of the Snake River. Such a crossing would link the Moose-Wilson Road, also known as the road to Teton Village, and Highway 26/89/191 that runs from Jackson to Grand Teton National Park.

Consultants found that another bridge north of town would reduce traffic on Highway 390 by 43 percent but would increase it by 24 percent on Highway 26 north of Jackson.

Hermansky said the county would be remiss if a northerly crossing was not studied within the comprehensive plan update.

Still, the idea has always been controversial, pitting landowners and conservationists against those seeking ease of travel and redundancy in the county road and bridge system. Construction would be a complicated deal that would involve multiple agencies and landowners and would require purchasing easements and/or condemning land.

The community considered the north bridge when officials finalized the transportation chapter of the last comprehensive plan in 1994. That plan does not include the north crossing.

The bridge also became an issue during the debate about the Snake River Associates expansion of Teton Village. Developers convinced officials they could mitigate traffic by providing a transit center and offering transit incentives.

In the winter season today, only one bridge links the east and west banks of the Snake River, raising warnings from emergency and traffic planners. In winter, the road between Teton Village and Moose is not plowed, taking the bridge over the Snake at Moose out of the network.

The bridge over the Snake at Hoback Junction also has not been available as a west-bank connector in the winter because Fall Creek Road has not been plowed routinely, and that road is mountainous, unpaved, long and winding.

Conservationists decry the potential invasion of the riparian area along the Snake, and nearby landowners have protected open space by donating conservation easements that preclude development.

A north bridge wasn’t the only controversial connector that consultants studied. They report also looked at other connector roads, including unpaved Spring Gulch and a proposed “Y” bypass through the Indian Trails neighborhood in West Jackson.

Improvements, such as paving to Spring Gulch Road, would result in 20 percent less traffic on Broadway but 6 percent more traffic on Highway, 22, west of the “Y” intersection, consultants found.

The Indian Trails connection, which would link South Park Loop Road and Highway 22, would result in 28 percent less traffic at the “Y” intersection.

If left unchanged, the intersection would have about 23 vehicles cued, each with a minute or longer wait time, by 2025. Today, about 10 to 15 vehicles are cued at the intersection with 30-second waits.

This connector road is the only one of the three that elected officials have told the transportation committee to investigate.

Meanwhile, a north bridge and Spring Gulch improvements have not moved that far along.

“If we are looking at the comp plan, we have to be looking at what’s important in terms of transportation and these routes,” Hermansky said. “These routes or something like them should be on the table so we can at least hear them again. If they are not doable, then the public and the elected officials can make that decision. To not talk about them, I felt as though would not be responsible.”

Traffic growth untenable

According to consultants, Teton County’s traffic has been growing at a rate of 3.5 percent per year.

“Three-and-a-half percent per year is phenomenal,” Consultant Carlos Hernandez told officials at the meeting by speaker-phone from Colorado. “That rivals some growing municipalities in the West. Dallas, the Denver area has communities rapidly growing with 3.5 percent traffic growth. That’s a lot of traffic.”

Tim Young, executive director of Friends of Pathways, said he doubts traffic has been growing at such an alarming rate. The study failed to include some traffic counts for several years, which may have skewed the numbers upward, he said.

“I think we need a little better picture of the data,” he said.

But Rich Bloom, who heads South Park Neighbors, said he was alarmed to see how fast traffic has been growing. At 3.5 percent per year, that means traffic would double every 18 years.

“That’s a very unhealthy rate of growth,” he said. “It not only threatens wildlife movement, but it’s why growth feels so uncomfortable, especially because infrastructure is not keeping pace.”

The study anticipates that the valley’s traffic growth could be slowed to 2 percent a year with improvements.

One suggestion is to implement a transportation tax to fund roads, transit and pathways. Objectives from 2003 are “unachievable” without a new funding source, consultants found.

Tax proceeds would supplement intersection reconstruction and the valley’s START bus system.

Another recommendation includes expanding START to 2,000 new daily riders needed by 2025. Ten percent of vehicles on major roads would have to be START buses in the future.

The town and county also would need street reconstruction to accommodate all modes of transportation, with walking and bicycling accounting for 5 percent of all travel.

Finally, a regional transportation authority should be formed for linking Teton County, Idaho, Jackson Hole and Star Valley. Each community would collect tax, and the authority would complete roadway, bus and trail projects, the report states.

The authority would  complete roadway, bus and trail projects, the report states.

Hermansky said the transportation committee will continue reviewing the report and make recommendations in conjunction with the comprehensive plan process.

That update is slated to be adopted by July.