Idaho Transportation Department

ITD Vision: Enhancing quality of life through transportation

• 2024 ITD Annual Report | FY24 Certification of Receipts & Disbursements| ITD Strategic Plan | Video: “ITD 101”
• ITD Phone Contacts | ITD Guidance | Public Records Request
• Transportation Asset Management Plan (TAMP) – Reporting mechanisms for ensuring strategic objectives are achieved
• ITD Form Finder (construction/design) | DMV Forms: Plates & Titles or Driver Licenses & IDs | FAQs & ITD Glossary of Terms
• ITD Headquarters (HQ) in Boise: ** ITD HQ Chinden location ** | Business hours: Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Department Services – Click below for service details and resources.

Idaho Transportation Photo Collection

• Curious how Idaho’s roads were built?
• Looking for historic photos of your community?
• Researching the evolution of snowplows?
• Go to: itd.idaho.gov/photohistory
• ***ITD’s Historical Photo website wins the 2019 APEX Publication Excellence Award***
• ***Historical Photo Collection wins 2018 North American Excellence Award***

The Idaho Transportation Photo Collection is a free, online database with more than 30,000 images documenting the rich history of transportation and infrastructure development in the Gem State. From surveying and constructing the North and South Highway to dedicating Idaho’s Interstate Highway System, every corner of Idaho is represented in this unique collection captured by the Idaho Transportation Department.

• How To Search the Idaho Transportation Photo Collection

Spurred by a vision to operate more like a business, and motivated by an annual funding shortfall in the hundred of millions, in 2014 the department launched a strategy to engage employees to find solutions to everyday problems. The centerpiece of this innovation strategy is an employee-driven effort.

Rather than rely on the brainpower of a select group of leadership-level people, ITD is harnessing the creativity of all employees statewide. Employees at every level are encouraged to submit ideas for time and money savings and making processes more efficient. But this is not just an old-fashioned suggestion box. Employees work to implement the best ideas that have a measurable impact.

Innovation Videos

• 2023 Best of the Best Innovations
• 2022 Best of the Best Innovations
• 2021 Best of the Best Innovations
• 2020 Best of the Best Innovations
• 2019 Best of the Best Innovations
• 2018 Best of the Best Innovations
• 2017 Best of the Best Innovations
• 2016 Best of the Best Innovations
• 2015 Best of the Best Innovations

Employee innovations are categorized into one of these five categories:

1. Safety
2. Mobility & Economic Opportunity
3. Ideal Workplace
4. Customer Service
5. Resource Stewardship

Partnering – It’s Just Good Business!

What occurs with good construction project partnering?

• Efficient resolution of issues and project closeout
• Enhanced Work Zone Safety of the team and public awareness
• Higher levels of trust and personal satisfaction
• Increased collaboration between all stakeholders
• Delivering a quality project as a team

What are the criteria for nominations?

A project team of ITD & contractor employees that stand out for their ability to:

• Resolve complex issues
• Improve communication on the project with all audiences
• Utilize innovative solutions
• Incorporate team building activities
• Honor stakeholders
• Achieve a common goal

2024 Excellence in Construction Partnering Award Winners

Top Gold winner: US-93 Perrine Bridge Corrosion Protection
Repairs to the iconic Perrine Bridge added 50 years to the life of the bridge, which is 48 years old and was nearing the end of its service life. This is one of only three crossings of the Snake River within a 30-mile area, and is easily the busiest, serving 40,000 vehicles per day. As such, there were significant incentives built into the contract to minimize traffic impacts, and stakeholder outreach was vital.

• All Excellence in Construction Partnering 2024 Award Winners

The awards competition is a confirmation that ITD and Idaho AGC recognize the project benefits of great partnering on highway and local road projects. Each project was reviewed by a judging panel of state and local partners and evaluated on criteria related to how well the project team:

• Enhanced work zone safety of the team and public awareness
• Resolved complex issues
• Improved communication on the project with all audiences
• Utilized innovative solutions
• Incorporated team building activities
• Honored stakeholders
• Achieved a common goal
• Delivered a quality project as a team

For questions contact the Partnering Sponsors:

• Dan McElhinney at dan.mcelhinney@itd.idaho.gov | Wayne Hammon at whammon@idahoagc.org

AASHTO Presidents Awards

Since the first win in 1993, the Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) has taken special pride in recognition earned from the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) in their annual awards. It is a chance to measure ITD against the other state departments of transportation in the region and across the country. It’s the rare competition where the size of the budget for construction, outreach or marketing does not count against a small, mostly rural state like Idaho. The AASHTO President’s Awards are considered the highest honor for state departments of transportation. Since 2010, ITD has won 23 of them – it’s proof positive that we consistently produce great projects on behalf of the taxpayers of Idaho. Below are the most recent of the national President’s awards, followed by a listing of the earlier honors.
 

2020 – 2024 AASHTO President’s Awards

2024 President's Award for Environment & Planning Idaho’s first wildlife overpass was built on State Highway 21 just east of Boise. The $7.5M project constructed a 150-foot long wildlife overpass and more than a mile of big-game fencing parallel to the highway to guide animals to the overpass, significantly reducing wildlife-vehicle collisions on this busy highway section. Improving motorist safety and protecting the well-being of residents and commuters, along with wildlife alike benefits the traveling public, hunting and recreational heritage, and helps sustain the benefits our valuable wildlife resources and public lands provide. ITD wildlife-vehicle crash safety data and Dept. of Fish and Game GPS data determined the location of the overpass by finding where most migrating mule deer and elk crossed the highway. This is the next step in the long-range vision to promote safety, mobility, and economic opportunity along SH-21 between Lucky Peak and Idaho City. The goal is to reduce wildlife collisions in the area by 80%.	2024 President's Award for Equity The $11M McArthur Lake project in northern Idaho reconstructs an existing two-lane section, adds wider shoulders, and replaces a width-restricted box culvert over Deep Creek, which provides an outlet to McArthur Lake. The existing box culvert will be replaced with two 150-foot span bridges that will provide safe animal passage under the highway. But this project was about more than typical road construction. Key partnerships between ITD, the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho (KTOI), and contractors helped preserve and bring better understanding to the rich history of the area’s indigenous people. A radiocarbon date from artifacts discovered during construction pre-dates the earliest-known sites in the area, meaning that the earliest-known archaeological sites in the upper Columbia River Basin came some 4,000 years earlier than previously thought, which has major implications in the archaeological world and will change the future of archaeological studies for the region. Not only has the Tribe been able to find amazing artifacts that will change the way people think about KTOI cultural history, but many have formed relations with one another and grown individually by researching their own history.
2022 President's Award for Safety Prior to the Statewide Asset Attribute Inventory (SWAAI), the components of Idaho’s 12,300-lane-mile state highway system were largely unaccounted for in one cohesive database. Without reliable information, a data-driven approach to decision-making was frequently impossible. Those highway components, or assets, were digitally recorded and catalogued, making for a consistent, efficient, and repeatable process—a technological game-changer for ITD. The SWAAI addresses several of ITD’s strategic goals, starting by saving nearly 300,000 personnel data collection hours and helping its planners identify ways to make ITD’s roads safer to drive. ITD can now fulfill many requests quickly and with much less labor, saving taxpayer dollars in the long run – an estimated $3.8 million saved in boots-on-the-ground collection costs alone. It’s another example of ITD identifying and implementing numerous new, innovative practices and building on a safety legacy, while proving its willingness to be open to revolutionary new ideas and improvements.	2021 President's Award for Highways ITD replaced two concrete bridges carrying Interstate 90 traffic over Pennsylvania Avenue in Coeur d’Alene with one bridge. The project used Accelerated Bridge Construction methods, which simplified construction and reduced the amount of on-site concrete formwork required. Abutments, piers, and girders were cast off-site in nearby Spokane while work proceeded at the site. Several key changes allowed the bridge to be constructed faster and more effectively. For instance, a high-early strength concrete cut more than 60 days of cure time from the overall project. The bridge provides a great improvement for the community and drivers on the primary route through the largest metro area and tourist destination in north Idaho. The design also allows up to six traffic lanes on I-90 in the future.
2021 President's Award for Traffic Safety ITD won this award for the work on Interstate 84 through the Treasure Valley, the most heavily traveled route in the state, which sees more than 130,000 vehicles per day. The work kept travel lanes open and moving, was delivered under budget and on time and utilized a new-to-Idaho method to enhance safety in the construction corridor. That safety provision was a towing service that moved disabled vehicles off the road and out of the travel lanes to keep traffic moving and assist first responders. Law enforcement was averaging 1.5 hours per incident prior to the implementation of the Safety Service Patrol. The service also saved hundreds of hours for the traveling public and millions of dollars for shippers.	2021 President's Award for Environment A pair of bridges constructed on US-20 in south-central Idaho replaced culverts over Willow and Rock Creek, remedied the failing multi-plate metal culverts that prohibited fish spawning and wildlife migration for decades, and restored wildlife habitats and streams for safe fish passage under the highway. The project also addressed vehicle-wildlife collisions by building animal crossings into the design of the bridges. The Rock Creek bridge section of US-20 saw 64 vehicle-wildlife collisions over the last five years. Idaho Fish & Game and ITD installed game cameras to monitor the environmental benefits of the projects, and within a few months, fish were discovered swimming upstream to spawn, and multiple deer (and a moose) were seen traveling along the channels under the bridges.
2020 President's Award for Highways The intersection of US-12, 21st Street, E Main Street, and G Street in Lewiston is the busiest in the entire region, with more than 50,000 vehicles per day using the intersection. Many of those are commercial vehicles. In the past five years, there were 34 crashes at the intersection, including rear-end crashes, head-on crashes and sideswipes. In addition to heavy truck traffic from industrial mills east of the intersection, nearby businesses generate significant traffic. The location is also a gateway to workers and patrons of the area’s largest employers, so it plays an important role in the community, and is a significant economic driver in the region. This area was reconstructed weeks ahead of time, delivering a needed benefit to the road user more quickly than anticipated. Since reopening, it has already greatly improved traffic flow and reduced delays.	2020 President's Award for Environment Widespread spring flooding caused a three-day closure of the interstate in ITD’s south-central Idaho region and prompted the department to move forward on plans to replace the antiquated Raft River bridges. Hydraulics and sediment studies were already in hand, but the flooding confirmed that something needed to be done. Crews replaced three aging structures, adding 10 feet in height to the bridges to create additional space for excess water to safely pass beneath. Two bridges were on the interstate, and a third ran parallel to the highway on a county route. ITD also worked to keep operations moving and not make construction onerous for nearby farmers and dairies dependent on the county roadway. Another noteworthy aspect of the project was the addition of wildlife fencing. At the request of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, ITD put up fencing in the area that abuts the Minidoka National Wildlife Refuge. This fence helps funnel animals to the bridge where they can safely cross underneath the structures as opposed to over the interstate. The crossing was an additional benefit of having more clearance under the bridges.

Traffic Incident Management in Idaho

The Idaho Transportation Department’s Traffic Incident Management or TIM Program is dedicated to improving the on-scene safety of Idaho’s incident responders. By increasing outreach and awareness of TIM practices, the program can increase the reliability of Idaho roadways and the livability of our communities.