BOISE — The Boise City Council and Ada County Commissioners held separate meetings Tuesday to determine the future of a “control of speed” ordinance to be implemented by the relevant jurisdictions affected by the Boise River Greenbelt.
Along with encouraging responsible user behavior, the ordinance, included in a “Memorandum of Understanding,” is looking to provide an easier job for law enforcement officials patrolling the greenbelt through a unified code.
About 42 miles of greenbelt pathway stretches from Lucky Peak to just shy of Eagle Island State Park. A control of speed ordinance had been under consideration by Ada County municipalities to encourage greenbelt users to be more mindful of their behavior while traveling, as previously reported by the Idaho Press .
Emphasized in both the Ada County Commissioners hearing and the Boise City Council work session was the reality that irresponsible behavior was not limited to those on vehicles or those on foot.
In an effort to determine if bad actors were overwhelmingly belonging to one group, Garden City police officers walked the greenbelt and took note of which users were the most problematic, Spencer Lay, associate legal advisor at the Ada County Sheriff’s Office, said.
“Essentially two percent of all users, any category of users, can be the problem at any time,” Lay said. “So if we ban one category, well, then another category can still have people that are acting poorly.”
As part of an effort to “raise the floor,” speeds deemed not “reasonable or prudent under the conditions” will be considered an infraction — a specific speed limit will not be imposed. An additional stipulation makes travel that “endangers or is likely to endanger any person or property” a misdemeanor. This misdemeanor stipulation would allow an individual to seek restitution if an injury was suffered, Lay said.
BOISE CITY COUNCIL
Boise City Council convened for a work session Tuesday to discuss the memorandum. Council members were supportive of the measure, while acknowledging that work still needed to be done to educate the populace about proper greenbelt use.
“It really is a common-sense measure, I believe, that we enter into such an agreement so that we can all respond when needed and address issues when they come up on the Greenbelt,” Ron Winegar, Boise Police Chief, said.
In his presentation, Winegar emphasized that the greenbelt is “a very safe place to be.” From January 2022 to present day, the Boise Police Department has received 65 calls for bicyclist stops, 43 calls attempting to locate a reckless driver, and 11 calls for illegal dirt bikes. All calls were made within a quarter mile of the greenbelt, Winegar said.
“When you look at the thousands and tens of thousands that have used the greenbelt in that last two-and-a-half-year period, those are relatively modest calls-for-service numbers that we have responded to or been involved in…even if all of those were to be attributed to being on the greenbelt, that’s not very many,” Winegar said.
Winegar said that the memorandum would “standardize greenbelt enforcement across all jurisdictions” and would not have an effect on what is already present in Boise City Code, Winegar said.
Boise City Council member Jimmy Hallyburton expressed support for the control of speed ordinance and law enforcement memorandum, saying that they could serve as a good “starting point.”
A broader discussion, following the adoption of the speed control ordinance, could be had regarding enforcement, monitoring and upkeep of the greenbelt, Hallyburton said.
ADA COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
More than two dozen residents of Boise, Eagle and Garden City were in attendance for the Ada County Commissioner’s public hearing on Tuesday. Attendees expressed overwhelming support for the ordinance, though some shared reservations about whether the language would be enough to curb high-speed e-bikes.
Though lower speeds were desired, most acknowledged that enforcement of speed limits would be impractical.
“I don’t think we can really regulate the speed limit,” Mark Eubank, member of the Foundation for Ada-Canyon Trails Systems, said. “We don’t have the officers…to put down a heavy speed limit, but what we can do is change attitudes and change the culture.”
Eubank proposed “Burma-Shave” style signage , in reference to the American shaving cream brand known for its rhyming advertisements placed on roadways until the early 1960s. Eubank proposed phrases such as “Ada Kind” and “Boise Nice” to be posted along the greenbelt to encourage more mindful travel.
Eubank, who was a regular bike rider for 50 years, has transitioned to using an e-bike following a hip replacement. Eubank and others shared that a total ban on e-bikes would greatly hinder responsible users and their ability to continue utilizing the greenbelt to the fullest extent.
“There’s no perfect solution to safety and management on the greenbelt. ... In a perfect world, we’d have two paths, one for pedestrians and one for cyclists,” Ada County Commissioner Ryan Davidson said. “But of course that’s millions and millions of dollars that I don’t think the taxpayers want to pay.”
Like Hallyburton, Davidson said that the ordinance is only the beginning. Efforts to educate and improve the greenbelt’s safety and usability will be ongoing as more people come to Idaho and a wider range of e-vehicles hit the pathways.
“We’ll have to be constantly monitoring that and asking for public input because nothing stays the same forever,” Davidson said.
The county commissioners voted unanimously to adopt the ordinance Tuesday. Boise is expected to have signed onto the memorandum Wednesday, joining Eagle, Garden City, Star and the Ada County Sheriff’s Office, who have already adopted the language, Lay said.
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