BY Isaiah Frizzell
Traffic is Part of Growth
Construction is taking place in Hailey on River and Bullion streets and it is strong and truly demanding some changes on your way home (or to work)?
Progress will continue like this for a few months. To be clear, October shows the end in sight.Now you know when to celebrate!
Alley Freeways
If you’re in downtown Hailey at ANY time, you’re changing lanes and fleeing through the alleys behind the Chevron, the Hailey Liquor Store, Peak Fitness, Tacos 208, etc. The alleyways have become “Two Lane Blacktop” (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067893/) driving challenges or like Dallas freeways with two-way traffic on one-way strips.
You can’t turn right or left or upside down without a train of cars poking at you from every direction in or around River and Bullion.
Time to Chill
Relax. Construction is under way and 100% on time. Summit Construction is MORE than paving the way—they’re putting in the incredible manpower and work to make River Street a walkable, bikeble, beautiful path with tree-lined walking areas and general good vibes. Ron Gibron is the owner of Summit and doing one of the best, fastest, most efficient and beautiful road construction jobs we’ve seen in Hailey. He’s been in the business for over 30 years and, based in Shoshone, is in such demand, good luck hiring him!
Yes, There’s a Detour But Let Them Do Their Job
They’re laying the groundwork for something beautiful, and they’re on time. This is all part of the Hailey Comprehensive Plan (it began in 1978 and has progressed into four larger updates which have been completed: 1982, 1998-2003, 2010, and 2012, as well as minor amendments in 2016, 2019, 2020 and 2021.) Now we’re at the end game, which should be finished by October according to the owner of Summit Construction, mastermind Ron Gibron.
What, Why and When
The huge initiative to make Hailey a ‘walkable’ or ‘bikeable’ city space is in progress. We’ve known this for years. The traffic is really a minor inconvenience. Plan ahead, leave early, listen to a great podcast or songs from a new band and know that Hailey is getting a, maybe, facelift. Beautification is the name of the game here.
Trees, sidewalks, easy and walkable, “bikeable” ways to meander the city are being created. This beautification project will pay off. Just let it happen.
It’s easy to be upset about traffic. We all like to sleep past the alarm, but when you learn to plan on 5-7 minutes extra drive time… something wonderful happens. Summit Construction had the best bid and the best team and they’re knocking it out of the park. They’re absolutely on time and here’s what you should know:
“It’s a road reconstruction with some landscape sidewalks and bike paths and some underground sprinkler systems,” stated Gibron. “All of River Street eventually is gonna look like this portion when we’re done. We should be out of here around the second or third week of October.”
There You Go!
They’re currently dealing with the River Street/Bullion Streetjuncture and some expanded areas where they’re creating for digging, tree wells so that the trees will have fertile ground to take hold and survive in an urban landscape.
Imagine a gorgeous, walkable, bikeable path through River Street with tree-lined, manicured lanes to enjoy. Sublime if you have the imagination to see it and recognize the work Summit is putting in to make it happen.
The traffic will let up as soon as they finish setting up for paving.
“We should start paving on September 12th,” said Gibron. “That’s gonna make it easier to get through. It won’t when we’re paving, though! It’ll be very difficult while we’re paving. But after we’re paved, it’ll help get people through.Things will be easy. Remember, though, have patience.
“We’re just a contractor trying to do a job. And if there’s any issues with design, just remember the contractor did not design it. We’re here to build it. And we want to get done and get out of here as quickly as the public wants us to get done and get out of here. So that’s road construction!” Gibron is funny and right to the point. Just be patient, plan ahead and, above all, relax and trust in the people doing the work.
Let’s Walk!
Summit Construction has an untarnished and excellent record in the construction industry and Gibron is a cool-headed, excellent engineer making way for a more beautiful, easily traversible Hailey.
Contact Summit via their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/people/Summit-Construction-LLC/100049262392460/
Or Gibron’s Linked-In:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ron-gibron-471bb749/
