This is my fifth
in a series of blogs discussing Communities in Motion 2040 and the relationship between
transportation and other elements addressed in the plan. You can find the
previous blogs below. Today I am discussing transportation and farmland.
Our rich
agricultural heritage is part of what makes our valley the “Treasure Valley.”
Yet, as Ada and Canyon Counties become more urbanized, it can be easy to forget
how important farming is to our economy and way of life. Studies show that over
6,000 people are employed in the agricultural sector in Ada and Canyon Counties
and that farmland encompasses 28% of all private land in the two-county area.*
The COMPASS
Board of Directors has identified protecting agricultural land as one of the
goals of Communities in Motion 2040.
For that to happen, farming must continue to be a vital segment of our economy.
But, as with any other industry, farming must be profitable, or the business
owners – the farmers – will pursue other livelihoods.
Quality
transportation facilities play a key role in ensuring that farming remains
locally profitable and viable. Farmers rely on “farm to market” roads to
transport their commodities to markets, distributors, and processing
facilities. However, as our population grows, there is increasing pressure on
these same roads from commuters. In addition, due to growth in urban areas,
some traditionally rural roads have been incorporated into surrounding cities,
but their function as a farm to market road has not changed, leading to large
farm vehicles needing to move through congested urban areas to get from farm to
market.
As we plan
for a transportation system that meets our needs in the future, it is important
to ensure farmers can safely and efficiently transport their products from
farms to markets or processing facilities. We need to plan for preservation, and
improvement, of these “farm to market” roads to ensure they continue to meet
the needs of the agricultural community.
COMPASS has
taken a first step toward this by considering agriculture’s needs in the
long-range transportation planning process, but it is truly just a first step.
We must continue to include these needs in our long-range planning to ensure
agriculture remains a key and vibrant element of our region’s economy,
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