To the Editor:

In the 3/16 S-R article regarding the stakes placed in Sand Creek by NICAN to illustrate the visual impacts of the Sand Creek bypass, Idaho Transportation Department's spokesperson, Barbara Babic stated that the stakes "… are not accurate. I don't know where they are getting their information."

The location of the stakes was based on ITD's information. The stakes showing the extent of the fill and the highway wall in Sand Creek was based on numbers taken from ITD's engineering drawings and recent maps of the project, which were then measured from ITD's highway centerline stakes on the shoreline.

ITD's own surveyor, Larry Glahe from Glahe and Associates, looked at the stakes laid out by NICAN. The Bonner County Daily Bee (3/16) reported that "Glahe conceded the group might not be too far off."

The next day Glahe staked out the proposed bike path on the "shoreline extension" e.g., fill in the creek. The curves in the bike path line exactly follow thse in the line staked by NICAN at the edge of the fill, validating the location of NICAN's stakes.

In the S-R article, Ms Babic also made the statement that the "…guts of the byway proposal are no longer up for debate." This statement followed her admission that ITD has not yet applied for the necessary permits from the Army Corps and Idaho Dept. of Lands for the fill in Sand Creek. Nor has ITD issued the environmental assessment, postponed for the last 18 months, for the major changes in the project, including the massive fill in the creek. These lengthy processes, which require the agencies to consider public comment, have a high potential for slowing and/or stopping the project.

Her statement: "The road is going up Sand Creek" speaks volumes about ITD's attitude toward the public and public input.

Liz Sedler, Executive Director

North Idaho Community Action Network