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Open house set on $9.4-million highway project |
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December 11, 2017 |
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The Idaho Transportation Department invites the
public to an open house on Thursday, December
14, to learn about a project to improve safety
on US Highway 95 through Bonners Ferry. The open
house will be held at Boundary County Middle
School from 5 to 7 p.m.
It will begin with a brief presentation on the
key aspects of the project. Following the
presentation, ITD staff will be available to
answer any questions, project manager Ben Ward
said.
“This project will improve safety for the many
users of US-95 by providing improved pedestrian
facilities, reducing the number of approaches to
the highway, and controlling snow and water
drainage better,” Ward said.
The project will be built in two phases at an
estimated construction cost of $9.4 million.
ITD contractors will be required to keep one
lane of US-95 open in each direction during the
day with the option to reduce the highway to one
lane at night. Access to businesses along the
highway will remain open during construction,
Ward said.
The first phase of the project includes
improvements to the South Hill to be constructed
in 2018, and the second phase includes
improvements on US-95 from Alderson Lane to
Madison Street to be constructed in 2019.
The project will reduce US-95 to two lanes on
the South Hill, allowing for the designation of
acceleration lanes in both directions near Ash
Street to make turns onto the highway easier,
especially for trucks turning left to go up the
hill. These acceleration lanes can also be used
to reroute traffic and avoid delays in the event
of stalled rigs or crashes on the South Hill,
said Dan Budd, an ITD designer for the project.
The new merging point for southbound traffic
will be moved north from the Madison Street
intersection to the Kootenai Street
intersection. A protected crosswalk will be
placed just south of the Madison Street
intersection to provide safer crossing for
children going to the city’s swimming pool.
Getting traffic into one lane before the Madison
intersection will make it safer for the many
pedestrians who will cross there, Budd said.
“We want drivers approaching the Madison
intersection to be looking forward at the
crosswalk, not looking back over their shoulder
while trying to merge into one lane,” Budd said.
“Pedestrians, often children, use that
intersection to cross to the local swimming
pool.”
The new crosswalk will be equipped with
pedestrian-activated, high-intensity lights to
bring drivers’ attention to the crosswalk and
allow pedestrians to cross safely, Budd said.
As part of the first phase of the project, ITD
contractors also will upgrade the streetlights
on the South Hill to be more efficient, and the
existing sidewalk will be expanded from 5 feet
to 8 feet, Budd said.
Highway improvements from Alderson Lane to
Madison Street include the creation of a
consistent three-lane highway with wider
shoulders to accommodate bicyclists and six-foot
sidewalks separated from the highway by a grass
buffer, all illuminated by new lights.
The project will also remove the signal at
Alderson Lane. ITD initially considered
upgrading the signal due to its age, but further
analysis determined that the signal was not
warranted by the volume of vehicles using it,
even during peak summer traffic, Ward said.
Those who are unable to attend the open house
may view details by
clicking here. |
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