THE FRONT ROW WITH MARK NELKE: The slow roads to progress down South
“Here I am …
“Stuck in the traffic with you …”
With apologies to Stealers Wheel (Google them), getting around the Treasure Valley in a hurry can be a challenge.
And when the state basketball tournaments are in the area, well, they don’t wait for you.
On Thursday, with local teams playing in each of the four time slots in the various state boys basketball tourneys, we thought it would be nice (ambitious? Good for circulation? Foolhardy?) to try to zip from site to site to catch at least parts of all four games.
Seemed like a good idea at the time, but despite a few bumps (stoppages, actually) in the road, it worked out fine.
STOP ONE was at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa — Post Falls vs. Timberline of Boise in the 5A first round.
The game itself was, uh, interesting — Post Falls winning by the throwback score of 39-30. But the key number was 63 — as in, minutes it took to play the game.
Then it was off on the back roads from the Idaho Center to Capital High, the March home of the St. Maries Lumberjacks, who have now played 17 games in that old building over the last six seasons. I got there late in the first half. Kinda slow going on those arterials, but not willing to take a chance on being parked on the freeway.
Sadly, that would happen next.
THE NEXT journey was from Capital High to Caldwell High, a trek of some 25-30 miles. This time, I decided to take the freeway.
So did everybody else.
It was right around the inaccurately dubbed “rush hour.”
There was little rushing.
The stretch from roughly the Ford Idaho Center exit (Exit 38) to the Franklin Road exit in Caldwell (Exit 29) took nearly as long as the 43 minutes it took Post Falls and Rocky Mountain to play the fourth quarter of their state semifinal game Friday night. And was nearly as tedious.
I did get to Caldwell High just before the tip of the Lakeside-Garden Valley track meet — er, basketball game. But valuable writing time was lost.
Yeah, I know …
Traffic had cleared a bit by the time Lakeside’s game ended, so it was smooth sailing back to the Idaho Center on the freeway, just in time to catch the second half with Lake City already down 20 to Borah.
I KNOW it doesn’t sound possible, but I managed to outsmart myself the next day.
Rather than risk another freeway fiasco, I planned an alternate, backroads route from Caldwell High to the Idaho Center.
It seemed like a good idea at the time.
Traffic flowed about as well as it could on two-lane highways — until you neared the four-way stop. And unfortunately, they like their four-way stops on the backroads of the Treasure Valley.
Emphasis on “stop.”
The Boise-area folks like to think we’re behind the times in North Idaho, but on this one, I think we’re a little ahead of the curve.
Post Falls is known for its outstanding boys basketball program. But the city is also quite well-versed in roundabouts, so maybe the River City can help out the Treasure Valley with its four-way stop problem.
In fact, roundabouts are prevalent in North Idaho, and even in Spokane, which has one on a street where the posted speed limit is 55 mph.
I’d like to see a NASCAR driver take a roundabout at 55. Fortunately, they make you slow down just before the roundabout, but still …
It’s got to be better than being parked on a freeway, or at a traffic light, for minutes at a time.
They say the Treasure Valley may very well double in size in the not-too-distant future. Where there was once plenty of open space between Boise and Meridian, and Meridian and Nampa, now there are housing developments and big buildings springing up.
And if they don’t add some lanes or figure out other ways for motorists to navigate their valley in an efficient manner, motorists are going to have plenty of time to admire all those new developments, whether they like it or not.
Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter@CdAPressSports.