Drunk driver cited after work zone incident on I-90 in January

This National Work Zone Awareness Week, ITD would like to remind drivers how to be safe in work zones.

Work zones aren’t just limited to the primary construction season – they can pop up at moment’s notice and times you wouldn’t expect to see them.

That was the case on January 15 when D1 operator Jed Henderson was dispatched to I-90 near Kellogg to fill in potholes.

“It was early evening and in the winter, so it was still dark out. The potholes were about 8 inches deep, and we needed to fix them,” Henderson said.

They were so deep that Henderson brought the mix to the site in the bucket of the loader so he could shovel it into the holes.

Ten minutes later and Henderson was cleaning up material on the shoulder when a driver blew past other equipment and ran into one of the tires on the loader.

The car then went sideways and was impacted by another car.

“We were lucky no one was hurt,” Henderson said. “Just minutes before we had been standing in that spot.”

Strapped in the seat of a 55,000-pound loader, Henderson said he barely felt the collision – but it has changed how he approaches the job.

“You spend every week working next to 70 mph traffic and you almost get used to it,” Henderson said. “You think it won’t happen to you and then it does.”

Idaho State Police investigated the incident and cited the driver for driving under the influence, which as a first-time offense is a misdemeanor with a penalty of a $1,000 fine and a one-year license suspension.

Safety project to start next week near St. Maries

Next week work will impact Goosehaven Road near St. Maries as crews prepare to start construction of a safety project on State Highway 3.

Starting Monday, April 18, the Idaho Transportation Department will improve Goosehaven Road by adding more material and then leveling the route so it may serve as a detour for construction on SH-3 this summer.

“That week drivers should prepare for delays on Goosehaven Road but not on SH-3,” Project Manager Matt Heinichen said. “We will also apply material to minimize dust created while traffic uses the detour.”

Major construction to widen three miles of SH-3 will begin the following week and take three months to complete. Weather may affect the schedule, so drivers should pay attention to signs in the area and check 511.idaho.gov for exact timing.

“Closing the highway completely will allow us to expedite construction,” Heinichen said. “We have been working with the county to minimize impacts, and this detour is critical to getting the work done.”

Plans call for the highway to be widened by 11 feet to the east, making room for 11-foot travel lanes and 3-foot shoulders. Guardrail will be installed along the east side.

Learn more about the project at itdprojects.org/stmariesdike.

Several bridges in CDA to be repaired this summer

Cars pass underneath US-95 on Northwest Boulevard in CDA

Several bridges in the Coeur d’Alene area will be repaired this summer, with work scheduled to begin first on the US-95 bridge over Northwest Boulevard.

Construction will start Monday, April 4, to paint the steel railing and remove and replace the surface of the US-95 structure. During the two months of work, southbound drivers will not be able to use the left turn lane on the bridge to access downtown via Northwest Boulevard.

As part of this project, other bridges will also be improved this season:

Starting in early May, crews will close one lane of the bridge on Potlatch Hill Road where it crosses over Coeur d’Alene Lake Drive and provides access to the Terraces at Lake Coeur d’Alene. Temporary signals will be in place for one month to control one lane of traffic.
Starting in June, Seventh Street over I-90 will close, and traffic will be detoured to Ninth Street for one month.
Starting in early July, the bridge on I-90 over Wolf Lodge Creek will be sealed to prevent damage from weather. Crews will close one lane in each direction for one month.
Starting in late July, crews will close one lane in each direction on the Greensferry Road overpass in Post Falls for a few days as they work on joints that allow the bridge to expand and contract with the weather.

Impacts will vary by bridge and by type of work, with some work zones scheduled to be in place for a few days to a few months.

Later this summer, a different project will also address repairs to another six bridges in the Coeur d’Alene area, including the Spokane River Bridge on US-95.

As more work zones begin to affect traffic, drivers should check 511.idaho.gov to plan their commutes.

Upgrades to US-95 in Bonners Ferry to begin next week

Traffic on US-95 in Bonners Ferry near Eisenhower Street

A two-year project will begin Monday, April 4, to extend the three-lane section on U.S. Highway 95 from Alderson Lane to Labrosse Hill Street in Bonners Ferry.

Drivers can generally expect a lane to be open in each direction. Most work will take place during the day, with some night work and detours possible as intersections and driveways are improved.

The first year of work is expected to wrap up in October and will focus on US-95 from Alderson Lane to Eisenhower Street.

After this project ends in 2023, this section of highway will also feature wider shoulders, sidewalks on both sides, new lighting and updated drainage.

Construction from 2018 to 2020 built similar improvements from the Kootenai River Bridge to Alderson Lane. Learn more about this project at itdprojects.org/us95bonnersferry.

New machine to pick up trash on I-90 this spring

New trash machine working in the median of I-90

The Idaho Transportation Department will use a new machine this spring to pick up trash along Interstate 90 from Washington to Coeur d’Alene.

“Now that the snow has melted, everyone can see the ugly truth about how much garbage has been piling up all winter,” Operations Engineer Jerry Wilson said. “This year, we have already started our cleanup efforts and will use a new machine, once conditions allow, to do it more efficiently.”

The department invested in the machine to speed up the collection process. It only takes two operators: one to drive the machine, which uses metal teeth to comb through the grass, and another to haul the trash away in a dump truck.

“To do one mile by hand, it takes five operators working together for eight hours,” Wilson said. “With the machine, we can cut that down to two people working five hours and still cover the same distance.”

The machine works well in the flat areas in the median, which Adopt-A-Highway volunteers are typically encouraged to avoid for their own safety.

“We will continue to rely on volunteers through the Adopt-A-Highway program to help get this mess cleaned up,” Wilson said. “They are just as valuable to us as this new machine, and we are inspired by the effort they make every year to keep Idaho beautiful.”

In 2021, volunteers in North Idaho picked up 4,171 bags of litter or about 72.8 tons – enough to fill 18 garbage trucks.

“There’s always a lag time between when the snow melts and the trash gets picked up, but once the median gets less muddy, and we have the dump truck ready to go, you’ll see us out there using the new equipment,” Wilson said.

Construction starts next week to replace two I-90 overpasses in Kellogg

Traffic passes underneath I-90 on Division Street in Kellogg

*Updated March 3 to show that the start date is dependent on weather. Less precipitation and warmer temperatures will be needed to begin work, and based on the current forecast, the start date will likely shift to March 14. Check 511 as we get closer to construction to confirm.

The Idaho Transportation Department will begin replacement of the Interstate 90 overpasses at Division Street and Elizabeth Park Road next week to improve safety.

Construction is anticipated to start Monday, March 7, with traffic on I-90 restricted to one lane in each direction at all times. Work is expected to take two seasons, with each season starting in March and lasting through October. All lanes will be open during the winter between construction seasons.

The project also includes widening the eastbound on-ramp at Division Street and repaving both streets under the overpasses.

Map of two interchanges to be replaced in Kellogg

Motorists should plan for the following impacts:

Division Street:

Both lanes will be open under the I-90 overpass with minimal closures as needed.
On-street parking under the overpass will not be allowed.
Sidewalks will be closed under I-90 with a signed pedestrian detour.
Ramp work will take place in the shoulders with minimal impacts to drivers.

Elizabeth Park Road:

Drivers can expect one-way alternating traffic controlled by temporary traffic signals on Elizabeth Park Road under I-90.
Elizabeth Park Road will be closed for several nights each construction season as crews demolish each structure before building a new one. Digital message boards will provide warnings at least one week in advance of any road closures as a detour is not available and will not be posted.

The bridges date back to the 1960s. For up-to-date information on this project, please visit itdprojects.org/i90divisionelizabeth.

Drivers will also encounter several other work zones on I-90 later this summer.

Four miles east of the bottom of Fourth of July Pass will be repaved, and barrier will be installed to prevent head-on crashes on the freeway. A contractor is not on board yet, but work is expected to take place between June and October with one lane in each direction closed.
One westbound lane will be closed at the Golconda interchange starting in April or May as the bridge is repaired. Repairs would take through September to complete.
Repairs to concrete barrier between Mullan and Montana are expected to start in April or May and require single-lane closures in one direction at a time.
The worst ramps in Shoshone County will be repaved this summer, with work starting as early as May. As ramps are resurfaced, they will be closed for about a day each. All work is scheduled to take about six weeks.
Paving between Wallace and Mullan is scheduled to begin in June and take until September, with traffic reduced to one lane in each direction.

Travelers should check 511.idaho.gov to learn about traffic impacts before driving.

SH-3 traffic detour starts late February to prepare for spring construction

The Idaho Transportation Department will partially close State Highway 3 north of St. Maries to prepare for spring construction. Unless winter weather causes a delay, the closure will start on Monday, Feb. 28, and continue for two weeks.

“If the forecast changes, we’ll have to push our closure to the following week,” Project Manager Matt Heinichen said. “Drivers should pay attention to signs in the area and 511.idaho.gov for exact timing.”

The plan is to close at least one lane of the highway from milepost 89.9 to milepost 92.5, with traffic detoured onto Goosehaven Road. During the closure, crews will remove vegetation along three miles of highway to make room for widening this spring.

“We may close both lanes on SH-3 and detour all traffic for up to five days in this two-week window so we can test the detour we expect to have in place for when we start the widening effort,” Heinichen said. “We want to determine if the county road will be able to support two-way traffic during construction.”

Widening is scheduled to begin in late April and take three months to complete. Closing the highway completely and using Goosehaven Road as a detour will expedite the project.

Plans call for the highway to be widened by 11 feet to the east, making room for 11-foot travel lanes and 3-foot shoulders. No additional lanes will be added. To get this extra width, a lightweight, specialized product known as geofoam will be used.

Traditionally, highways are expanded by importing embankment material and building the base outwards, but SH-3 was built on soft soils. Extra weight would collapse the soft soils and cause settlement problems for the highway, and expanding outwards would affect nearby wetlands. The geofoam will allow expansion without adding weight or requiring land to be bought.

Learn more at itdprojects.org/stmariesdike.

Blasting to close US-95 at Granite Hill tomorrow

A blast is scheduled tomorrow at 1 p.m. as part of efforts to expand US-95 over Granite Hill north of Athol. All traffic will be stopped during the blast, with delays expected to be under 30 minutes.

Blasting will make room for a new frontage road called Vintage Road to the west and will continue throughout the final season of work, with several blasts possible each month.

Starting in early March, crews will mobilize into the work zone to rebuild US-95 to four lanes over Granite Hill and finish Vintage Road. Additional lanes over Granite Hill will provide better mobility, and frontage roads will improve safety by routing drivers to improved intersections to enter US-95.

Both routes are expected to open by August, though construction is expected to last through October.

Once Vintage Road opens, Homestead Road and Williams Lane will lose direct access to US-95 and will instead use the frontage road to access the highway.

Construction in the area began last spring, with the first season of work producing Mineral Ridge, the road traffic currently travels on through the work zone and what will serve as the frontage road to the east after the project is complete.

Drivers can expect two lanes through most of construction. Frequent travelers are encouraged to sign up for email updates at itdprojects.org/us-95-granite-north-improvements.

ITD issues reminder on plow safety following six incidents in two weeks

Stock photo of another vehicle hitting a plow

Stock photo shown above.

With snow in the forecast for several regions in the state, the Idaho Transportation Department would like to remind drivers how to travel with plows on the road.

In just the last two weeks, there have been four incidents of drivers striking plows and two incidents of drivers forcing them off the road. This compares to eight plow strikes recorded last year. Most of the collisions have occurred after other drivers tried passing plows on the right.

Drivers should be aware that most ITD trucks have two plows: one on the front, and one that extends from the right side known as a wing plow. Lights alert drivers to the presence of wing plows, but during storms those lights and the wing plows can be obscured by plumes of snow.

So far this winter, plows have been struck in nearly every region of the state:

On Dec. 9, a plow was hit on Interstate 90 near the Rose Lake exit when a driver tried to pass on the right.
On Dec. 14, a plow on U.S. Highway 95 near Moscow was forced off the road to avoid hitting a vehicle that had lost control and was in the opposing lane.*
On Dec. 16, a plow was hit on U.S. Highway 20 near Ashton and on Interstate 84 near Twin Falls. Both incidents involved drivers trying to pass on the right. That same night a plow on US-95 near Winchester was forced off the road to avoid hitting a vehicle that had lost control and was in the opposing lane.

The latest plow strike occurred this morning on I-90 near Osburn. Another vehicle attempted to pass the plow on the right, collided with the wing and forced the plow off the road. The driver then fled the scene. The Idaho State Police are investigating the incident.

To date no one has been injured. However, plows must be checked for any damage before being put back into service, which stretches resources thin with a direct impact to driving conditions.

“This time of year drivers need to take their time and never pass a plow on the right,” said Jerry Wilson, the operations engineer for North Idaho. “Let’s all get home safely.”

Know before you go and check 511.idaho.gov for road conditions before traveling. For winter driving tips, visit itd.idaho.gov/travel.

*Post updated Dec. 23 to reflect that this near-collision occurred on Dec. 17 on Palouse River Drive near the Moscow shed.

“Pack the Parking Lots” this Thanksgiving weekend and plan a sober ride home

This Thanksgiving weekend, the Idaho Transportation Department’s Office of Highway Safety (OHS) and the North Idaho DUI Task Force ask drivers to “Pack the Parking Lots” and keep impaired drivers off the roads. Law enforcement agencies throughout Kootenai County are preparing for the increased number of impaired drivers the holiday season typically brings to North Idaho roadways. The North Idaho DUI Task Force will kick off its holiday DUI emphasis patrols with a “Pack the Parking Lots” event Nov. 26 – 27.

During the holiday season the parking lots of local bars and restaurants will fill up as more people are out celebrating. Law enforcement officers say unfortunately it isn’t uncommon to see those full parking lots almost empty once bars close. Through “Pack the Parking Lots,” the North Idaho DUI Task Force hopes drivers will leave their cars safely parked for the night and find a sober ride home. The goal is to see the bar parking lots as full after closing time as they were before closing.

According to OHS data, in 2020 there were 140 impaired driving related crashes in Kootenai County, killing 7 people. In an effort to encourage those in North Idaho to choose not to drive after drinking, the North Idaho DUI Task Force and OHS will provide Lyft vouchers to bars throughout Kootenai County, offering $5 off a Lyft ride. The vouchers will be valid Nov. 26 – 27 with the code SAFERIDE021.

The North Idaho DUI Task Force is made up of officers from the Coeur d’Alene Police Department, Idaho State Police, Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office, Post Falls Police Department, Rathdrum Police Department, Spirit Lake Police Department, and Hayden Lake Police Department. Officers from each agency will continue to work with OHS throughout the holiday season to keep impaired drivers off our roadways.