Public meeting on Feb. 22 for US-95 bridgework near Potlatch

An open house will be held Feb. 22 to share information on plans to improve safety on US-95 by replacing two aging bridges and by adding turn lanes at two intersections near Potlatch.

The public meeting will be held at the Scenic 6 Depot at 126 Sixth Street in Potlatch from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in an open house format. Members of the public are invited to arrive at any time to learn about the design and the project schedule. Project staff will be available to discuss the planned improvements, which are scheduled to be constructed in 2020 for an estimated $6.6 million.

Planned improvements include:

– Replacing the Deep Creek and Washington-Idaho Railroad (WIR) bridges

– Adding turn lanes at the junctions of the highway with ID-6 and with Kennedy Ford Road

The new bridge over the Washington-Idaho Railroad will be elevated to meet current height guidelines, and the supports underneath the bridge will be spaced wider to accommodate a future addition of another track. Improvements to the junction of ID-6 and US-95 near the WIR Bridge will likely prevent several crashes, as there have been 19 crashes near the intersection between 2011 and 2015.

The addition of turn lanes at the junction of US-95 and Kennedy Ford Road near the Deep Creek Bridge will also likely prevent crashes, of which there were 18 near the intersection between 2011 and 2015.

For those who have questions or comments but are unable to attend the public meeting, please email the project manager Kerby Kirkham at kerby.kirkham@itd.idaho.gov or mail comments to: US-95 Potlatch Bridges Improvement Project, Attn: Kerby Kirkham, ITD District 2, 2600 Frontage Road, Lewiston ID, 83501. Comments are due by March 9, 2018, to be considered as part of the official project record.

For more information, visit itd.idaho.gov/D2, choose “Projects” and then select US-95: Potlatch Bridges Improvement Project.

Major improvements coming to US-12 in north-central Idaho this construction season

LEWISTON—During the upcoming construction season, US-12 in north-central Idaho will undergo a $17 million transformation to revitalize aging infrastructure and improve safety throughout the corridor.

More than 50 miles of the highway between Lowell and the Idaho-Montana border will be repaved, and two bridges—over Maggie and Fish creeks—will be replaced.

“We are excited to have this opportunity to improve the corridor,” said Joe Schacher, the ITD manager for the improvements. “Some sections of the highway have deteriorated significantly due to heavy use and harsh weather conditions, and the bridges haven’t received major repairs since they were built in the early 1950s.”

Knife River Corporation will resurface 27 miles between Tumble Creek and Saddle Camp Road and another 23 miles between Warm Springs Pack Bridge and the Montana border. Repaving the highway will cost $13.3 million, Schacher said.

Concrete Placing Company will replace Fish Creek Bridge, and Braun-Jensen Inc. will replace Maggie Creek Bridge for a combined cost of $3.6 million, Schacher said.

Schacher said construction throughout the corridor could begin as early as April and conclude as late as October. Work will be suspended during travel-heavy holidays such as Memorial Day, the Fourth of July and Labor Day to minimize impacts to the traveling public. ITD has also coordinated with the USDA Forest Service to reduce effects to participants in Lochsa Madness and other events.

“US-12 is a critical access route for visitors planning a trip to the forest and the many recreation sites the Forest Service has in the Lochsa corridor,” says Jennifer Becar, public affairs specialist for the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests. “We appreciate the work ITD will be doing to improve access along this route and will be working closely with them to make sure our visitors are aware of upcoming travel impacts.”

Drivers can expect significant delays while traveling through the corridor. Given the number of projects in the area and the limited passing opportunities on the predominately two-lane highway, Schacher said travelers could experience delays upwards of two hours.

“Although it may not be ideal to oversee four different projects in one season, we were able to take advantage of the available funding,” said Doral Hoff, the engineering manager for ITD’s District 2. “The public can be assured that after this construction-intense summer, they won’t see ITD working on the highway for a while.”

A few years after these improvements, contractors will add seal coats to approximately 60 miles of the highway to protect the new road surface and extend the life of the fresh pavement, but other than that, Hoff said he does not anticipate construction for another two to three years.

As construction nears, the public can find information about specific construction dates through the project website at itd.idaho.gov/us12 and by visiting 511.idaho.gov. Travelers can also find construction information through the Montana Department of Transportation’s traveler information webpage at www.mdt511.com.

Construction underway to repair ID-3 near Kendrick damaged last spring by slide

LEWISTON – Crews are stabilizing the slope by Idaho Highway 3 near Kendrick to prevent future landslides like the one that cracked the roadway last spring. That work is underway and is expected to continue through January 2018.

Knife River Corporation, the contractor for this $3.3-million project, began construction of a soil nail wall on the Bear Ridge Grade in late October. The soil nail wall will secure the area by installing a grid of steel bars, reinforced by a concrete retaining wall, that extends beyond the affected area of the slide into stable material in the hillside.

There are no impacts to traffic at this time near the construction site at milepost 15.7 but drivers are advised to reduce their speed to 35 mph as work is being performed on both sides of the highway.

In conjunction with the soil nail wall, the contractor will also replace a broken culvert underneath the road. The road will be reduced to one lane at that time.

“The soil nail wall, in addition to the new culvert, will greatly reduce the likelihood of another landslide by securing the slope,” said Riley Bender, Idaho Transportation Department project manager for the repairs.

ID-3 repairs are expected to be finished by the end of next August, including repaving 6.4 miles of the highway from the top of Bear Ridge Grade to Texas Ridge Road.

Milling and paving on Idaho Highway 8 through Moscow will impact traffic, businesses for next week and a half

LEWISTON – Milling and paving on Idaho Highway 8 is expected to impact drivers and businesses during daytime hours for the next week and a half. Crews will block three of the lanes, leaving one lane open in each direction.

Intersections and driveways may be temporarily closed during the rehabilitation. The worst traffic impacts during milling are expected to occur today through Monday (Aug. 2-7).

Crews will begin milling off the top section of roadway surface around 5 a.m., with paving coming through around 10 a.m. in that same section. The work is expected to continue throughout the day and finish by that evening.

Work on this $3.55 million job, contracted to Poe Asphalt, of Clarkston, Washington, is expected to finish by late September.

More than decade later, ITD wetland of flowers, animals and grasses flourishing in tiny Genesee

What was once a wind-blown wheat field near the small Idaho town of Genesee is now an environmental success story. A dozen years later, ITD has created a thriving, marshy wetlands area where one never existed before.

Genesee, a town of fewer than 1,000 folks, is a quiet community resting in the rolling hills and prairie that dominate Idaho’s Palouse country, midway between Moscow and Lewiston. When road construction on U.S. 95 in the spring of 2005 from the top of Lewiston Hill to Genesee required using some land designated as wetlands, ITD spearheaded a mitigation project to construct wetlands as compensation.

The project became known as “Cow Creek Wetland,” located along a half-mile of Cow Creek in Latah County next to Genesee between two county roads — Morscheck and Kreier

ITD eventually created almost 11.5 acres of wetland and riparian area to mitigate for area impacted by the highway project, at a cost of $1.5 million.

Construction started in 2005, as there were wells drilled at each corner of the area to provide water for the irrigation system and help plants get established. Excavation, irrigation system and initial plantings were completed that year. Nearly 24,000 containerized trees and shrubs were part of the mitigation plan. In addition, there were almost 35,000 plugs of wetland grasses, rushes, sedges, and more planted in 2005.

D2 Wetlands Before After — **A before-and-after shot shows how this landscape has been transformed.**

Then came the winter of 2005/2006, when roughly 90 percent of those wetland plugs were lost due to frost heaves. So, planners returned to the drawing board.

Spring of 2006, wetland areas were broadcast-seeded to compensate for the loss that first winter. In addition to seeding and planting, trees removed during the project were placed in the wetland as habitat snags, and in November of 2007 an additional 2,500 containerized plants were planted as warranty to replace trees and shrubs that had died.

The irrigation system, installed to provide watering as the vegetation got established, was turned off in 2008 to encourage plants to acclimate to their natural conditions.

By August of 2010, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers stamped the site as completed.Many Genesee residents, who also use it for bird watching, today use the Cow Creek Wetland as a walking trail.

Most impressively, it is used as a wetland ecology classroom by the local high school.

Idaho one of only two western states to win multiple regional transportation awards

BOISE – Two Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) efforts — a massive clean up of a landslide in north-central Idaho, and the final piece of an interchange construction plan in eastern Idaho that significantly cut serious crashes — won regional awards June 28 in Juneau, Alaska.

Regional winners in the America’s Transportation Awards were announced during the annual conference of the Western Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (WASHTO). Idaho was one of only two western states to receive multiple awards; Colorado was the other. WASHTO is the western regional arm of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO).

“The America’s Transportation Awards give state DOTs recognition for providing the essential connections that keep people, goods and our economy moving forward,” said David Bernhardt, AASHTO president.

The two ITD awards are listed below:

Elk City Slide Cleanup – winner in “Operational Excellence, Small Project”

The 2016 Elk City landslide unleashed 47 million lbs. of mud, rock and debris on Idaho State Highway 14, cut off access to a remote town and threatened grocery and gas deliveries, health-care visits, emergency services, and the livelihood of those who rely on the highway for transport.

ITD employees from all over the state swarmed to the site to respond. Many employees took leave of their typical job assignments to assist in the efforts. The cleanup took about six months, and cost close to $3.5 million.

The original slide dumped material across a 500-foot-wide stretch of highway. Two months later, a second slide brought down more material and pushed what was already loose debris even closer to the highway. Combined, the slides spilled 235,000 cubic yards of debris on the road and left a boulder weighing about 2.4 million lbs. on the hillside that ITD reduced with two dynamite charges.

“The entire team of worked safely and efficiently, with the people of Elk City in mind every step of the way,” said ITD District 2 Engineering Manager Doral Hoff.

Thornton Interchange – winner in “Best Use of Technology & Innovation, Small Project”
The opening of the new Thornton Interchange in eastern Idaho south of Rexburg marked the culmination of more than a decade of U.S. 20 safety improvements. Thornton was the last of seven new interchanges built in a 34-mile stretch of U.S. 20 between Idaho Falls and Sugar City to improve access management and traffic flow for greater highway safety and mobility.

Despite traffic volumes doubling, these improvements drastically decreased serious-injury crashes and fatalities. In addition, several money-saving innovations and technological advances shaved at least $450,000 off the final price tag for the Thornton project.

“Providing the contractor with a 3-D model for the Thornton Interchange and requiring them to use automated grade control during construction shortened the required construction time and reduced the impact to traffic through the busiest part of the summer,” said ITD District 6 Engineering Manager Wade Allen.

Seal coat work starts Tuesday (June 13) on section of U.S. 95

LEWISTON – Seal coating will be done on sections of U.S. 95 starting Tuesday (June 13) from the Little Salmon River Bridge to the south city limits of Riggins, as crews lay a top protective layer to extend the life of the underlying pavement. The work is expected to take several weeks, depending on weather.

Below is a list of the routes and locations that will be seal coated. During work, motorist should expect minor delays, and flaggers or pilot cars may be used to guide traffic.

Location
U.S. 95, Little Salmon River Bridge to Riggins South City Limits (milepost 185.4-194.6)
U.S. 95, Riggins North City Limits to Goff Bridge (milepost 196.2-197.3)
U.S. 95, Skookumchuck to White Bird Bridge (milepost 219.1-223.7)
U.S. 95, Bottom of White Bird Hill to Johnston Rd. (milepost 234-242)
U.S. 95, Westlake Road to N. Winchester Approach (milepost 273.7-279.7)
U.S. 95B, Craigmont Business Loop (milepost 271.8-273.5)
SH 14, Jct. Hwy 13 & 14 to S. Fork Clearwater Road Bridge (milepost 0-8.7)

Knife River Construction is the contractor on this $1.22 million work.

Culvert replacement on Idaho 62 in Nezperce starts Monday (June 12)

LEWISTON – A culvert-replacement project is slated to begin Monday (June 12) on Idaho 62 in Nezperce and wrap up by the end of the month. This is necessary to replace an aging, large arc pipe that Holes Creek flows through.

The existing arc pipe at milepost 10.5, built in 1953, will be replaced with a bottomless arc pipe.

During replacement of the culvert, the highway will be closed and drivers will detour around the area using Powerline Road. Powerline Road connects with Idaho 62 at milepost 14 and milepost 3.

Crews will work a Monday-through-Friday schedule, with a day shift starting at 7 a.m. and a night shift starting at 5 p.m. Weekend work may be necessary to ensure the project is completed on schedule.

Crea Construction Inc., of Lewiston, is the contractor on this $376,000 project.

New transportation funding allows ITD to continue effective, efficient management

LEWISTON – Two transportation bills were passed into law at the end of the recent Idaho Legislative session, giving the Idaho Transportation Department access to millions of dollars to invest in improving the state transportation system and funding pedestrian-safety improvements.

During the Idaho Transportation Board meeting Friday (April 21) in Lewiston, board members will be given a list of possible projects to fund through the newly authorized GARVEE (Grant Anticipation Revenue Vehicle) bonds. These include four corridors with work left incomplete from the 2005-2014 GARVEE bonds.

The funding creates four revenue streams for transportation funding. First, they authorized ITD to borrow $300 million in GARVEE bonds. Next, they extended the “surplus eliminator” until 2019, with a 60/40 split among state and local transportation agencies. They also included 1 percent of sales tax and a portion of the cigarette tax going to a Congestion Mitigation Fund. This makes a total estimated funding of approximately $300 million.

This marks the second new road-funding package in recent years. In 2015, increases to the gas tax and registration fees allowed ITD to perform necessary maintenance on deteriorating infrastructure.

The new revenue from user fees has funded repairs on 60 projects across the state. All but a few of those projects were completed in just 18 months. The remaining few will finish this summer and fall.

Watch a video about the rapid repairs using new revenue here.

Work on East Kooskia Bridge finishes early

With crews working long hours and the weekend, work on the East Kooskia Bridge finished ahead of time and the bridge opened to travel Feb. 28, at least a week early. The improvements allowed ITD to boost the bridge’s load-carrying capacity from 6,000 lb. Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW) to 16-20 tons GVW, depending on axles.

It’s just the latest example of ITD providing great service to our customers, the users of the transportation system.

Work on the 82-year-old bridge began Feb. 20 and finished by the end of the month. Prior to repairs, the bridge’s condition allowed only for lightweight passenger vehicles.

The 481-foot-long, steel-truss bridge is on the Idaho 13 Business Route, just off U.S. 12. It is a single-lane structure at milepost 75.2 built in 1935.