Up until the 1960’s, the Boise River and its banks served as a convenient dumping place for trash, industrial waste, raw sewage, and in the case of this parcel, meat factory remnants. The riverbank became seriously damaged after years of using it for waste. Fish were unable to inhabit the polluted streams. Greenbelt advocates of the 1960’s had a major impact in spreading awareness about the Boise Rivers potential. Little did they know, it was going to become a highly used public amenity cherished by the majority of Boise’s population. It was something that not only had a positive environmental impact, but also created a stronger sense of community. Its infrastructure would connect most of Boise’s existing parks.
“It is proposed also that additional land along the Boise River be acquired to link community parks with other public lands forming a continuous greenbelt available to all sections of the City.”
- Boise City Comprehensive General Plan, 1963
In the mid 1960’s greenbelt advocates were well on their way to getting started. “The Greenbelt project began in 1966 with the donation of a .43 acre piece of land by the Taubman Corporation. Two more donations came in 1967 provided enough space along the river for the project to begin.” (Boise State Public Affairs) Two years after the Greenbelt began development, it unfortunately came to a halt. The Capital Improvements Program report, created by the Planning and Zoning Commission, criticized the greenbelt project for not making enough progress within those two years. The estimated cost for this first project was originally $785,775. The total estimated cost continued to increase and by 1974 had doubled. The chart below shows the total estimated costs compared to the city budget share.
YEAR TOTAL ESTIMATED COST CITY BUDGET SHARE
1969 $810,920 $319,480
1970 $480,150 $309,900
1971 $465,050 $278,050
1972-74 $1,649,180 $1,150,180
Since taxpayers would cover a substantial cost of the greenbelts development, the Planning and Zoning Department wanted to make aware the other possible future uses of the land. Since development was taking too long, a Greenbelt and Pathways Committee was created to figure out what would be best. Their solution was having the city create an ordinance that prevented any development within 70 feet of the river. This reserved enough space for the future greenbelt, while allowing development near the river.
By 1975, use of the Bicycle in the Valley had substantially increased. The Boise Bikeway Plan assessed many more aspects that had not yet been considered. Its goal was to re-evaluate proposed bike routes and prepare a plan of recommendation. It was more of an overall evaluation to for biking in the streets. This was because the bicycle was becoming
a popular new mode of transportation for many people in their daily commute to work and school. Its main focus was not the green belt, but instead incorporating bike paths into the streets. There were 3 different proposed types of bicycle travel; bike paths, bike lanes and bike routes, each with different ideas for adding signs and dealing with traffic. Bike paths were “A completely separated right-of-way designated for the use of bicycles. Crossflows by vehicular traffic are minimized.” (Lukehart) Bike Lanes were “A restricted right-of-way that utilizes city streets secondary roads, sidewalks and other existing facilities and is appropriately designated by signs, striped lane markings and/or physical barriers.” (Lukehart) Bike Routes were “A shared right-of-way utilizing existing low use vehicular streets and designated by signing.” (Lukehart) It is clear that by 1975 biking in the valley had become considered as a main source of travel. The map below shows the proposed bike routes where the plan wanted to incorporate new routes, lanes and paths.
Jumping ahead to 2000, the bicycle became so popular, that the greenbeltwas now 25 miles long. Bikers wanted to be able to plan their routes and know how far they were traveling as they ride. In 2001 the greenbelt had informational signs painted on it that allowed them to do so. Below is an image of one of these signs.
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The increased use of the bicycle and implementation of the greenbelt went hand in hand between 1975 and 2000. The greenbelt is currently used more by bikers than pedestrians.
The following is from a summary of the 2013 greenbelt report.
“Just like last year, there were more bicycles on the Greenbelt than pedestrians. Our sample consisted of 44 percent pedestrians and 56 percent bicycles but the [ITD] traffic counts show that the actual numbers are probably closer to 35 percent pedestrians and 65 percent bicycles.” (College of Social Sciences and Public Affairs at Boise State University)
City Planners from the 1960’s would be excited to know how much the greenbelt is currently appreciated used by residents of Boise. Bicycle enthusiasts today should be grateful that we are able to have such a wonderful public commodity, considering that many places do not have a greenbelt.
References
Lukehart, S., & Boise Metropolitan Transportation Study. Subcommittee on Bicycle and Pedestrian Planning. (1975). Boise Bikeway Plan 1975. Boise State Special Collections. Retrieved April 19 2015.
Boise Parks and Recreation. (2014, July). Points of Interest. Retrieved April 2015
Parnell, D. (2014, September 13). Celebrating 45 years of Boise’s Beloved Greenbelt. Idaho Statesman [Boise].
Occasional Papers of the College of Social Sciences & Public Affairs at Boise State University. (2014, May). Urban Research.
Greenbelt – City of Boise, Idaho. Boise Parks and Recreation (2015). Retrieved April 20, 2014,
Urban Environmental Boise 