Category: North-Central

Repairs to the Clearwater Memorial Bridge are scheduled for at least three nights this week, from Thursday, October 28, through Saturday, October 30. During this time, joints on the eastbound lanes that allow the bridge to expand and contract with the weather will be replaced.

Both directions of traffic will be reduced to one lane each week night from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. Drivers will be directed to the westbound side of the bridge to give crews room to work. Rainy conditions may affect the schedule and result in additional nights of work.

Work is scheduled at night to reduce the effect on commuters. Impacts will be very similar to a previous round of emergency repairs last October to joints on the westbound lanes.

A project in 2023 will rehabilitate the 1951 structure, but the joints will not be able to support traffic until then without significant maintenance and must be addressed now.

Download a rendering of what the bridge will look like after construction starts in 2023.

The Idaho Transportation Department is now seeking bids on a project to expand US-95 south of Moscow.

“This a major step forward toward construction,” District Engineer Doral Hoff said.

Three years of work will transform 6.5 miles of US-95 between Thorn Creek and Moscow, shifting it less than a mile to the east and turning it into a four-lane highway safer for all motorists. The new route will tie in at Reisenauer Hill and feature flatter grades, fewer approaches and less severe curves. The current route is the last two-lane section between Moscow and Lewiston.

“Although drivers won’t see major excavation start until at least mid-April, bidding now allows us to get started on the business of planning for construction with a contractor,” Hoff said.

The first year of work is expected to focus on the southern end near Reisenauer Hill, with the following two years building the remaining connection to Moscow.

“We want drivers to know that this long-awaited safety project is finally ready to be built,” said Ken Helm, an ITD Program Manager who has been working on this project since it was first proposed in 1998.

Contractors can find the advertising package at itd.idaho.gov/business for at least four weeks, with the contract awarded as early as November 9. The contract is expected to be awarded for approximately $71 million.

More project information is available at itdprojects.org/us95thorncreek.

Idaho legislators, representatives from the National League of POW-MIA Families, community members and the Idaho Transportation Department will officially celebrate the naming of US-26 in Idaho as the “POW-MIA Memorial Highway” at 2 p.m. Wednesday, October 6, 2021, at the Carey City Park – Boyd Stocking Pavilion.

During the 2021 Idaho legislative session, HB132aa sponsored by Representative Scott Syme and Senator Patti Anne Lodge, formally designated and named US-26 in Idaho, the POW-MIA Memorial Highway. The bill unanimously passed both chambers, respectively, and was signed by Governor Little in April.

Idaho is home to eight soldiers designated as MIA and the City of Carey happens to be home to one of those individuals. Jon Michael Sparks was a helicopter pilot for the US Army and was lost in Long Binh Province, Laos, on March 19, 1971.

US-26 in Idaho runs from the Oregon border to the Wyoming border. The highway naming is part of a nationwide effort to designate US-26 as the POW-MIA Memorial Highway from coast to coast, with several other states participating over the years as well.

There are 10 locations across US-26 in southern Idaho where new POW-MIA Memorial Highway signs will be installed.

Repairs to the Idaho Highway 11 slide south of Headquarters will begin Monday, October 4, and last through mid-November.

“Monitoring devices have shown no movement since we installed them in the spring, so we are now able to start work,” Project Manager Erin Buck said.

The highway first sank in April, eventually creating an eight-foot drop off. ITD bored underneath the highway to collect soil samples in May to determine the severity of the issue and identify the best long-term repair.

“We will construct a soil nail wall,” Buck said. “At a high level, this involves boring into the slope and using 40-foot nails to connect the failing material to the stable material.”

One lane of the highway will remain closed, but traffic will guided by temporary signals rather than the yield signs that have been in place.

This type of repair has been used successfully to mitigate other slides in the region, including the 2017 slide at Bear Ridge Grade north of Kendrick on Idaho Highway 3.

Knife River, the contractor that resurfaced seven miles of ID-11 between Grangemont Road and Headquarters earlier this summer, will complete the repairs for $1.1 million.

The Idaho Transportation Department will meet with freight stakeholders across the state this September to collect feedback and update its freight plan.

The Idaho State Freight Plan identifies how ITD will strategically invest state and federal funding in infrastructure to increase the safety, capacity and efficiency of the freight system for the benefit of the Idaho economy.

The document analyzes the needs and issues in Idaho, details policies and strategies to overcome them, identifies critical freight corridors and lists projects to be funded. These projects are supported by approximately $10 million of federal funding each year.

Freight stakeholders utilize infrastructure on a daily basis for basic operations and produce, ship/receive or transport the majority of goods within the state. Such industries include: agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting, mining, utilities, construction, manufacturing, wholesale trade, retail trade and transportation and warehousing. Those who would like to participate in the process should contact Scott Luekenga at (208) 334-8057 or scott.luekenga@itd.idaho.gov to get details on the available times and locations.

Participants will be guided through a 30-minute survey based on their industry. They are invited to engage in person at the following events:

• Lewiston on Sept. 2
• Blackfoot on Sept. 16
• Twin Falls on Sept. 21

Virtual opportunities will also be accommodated through the end of September. Another round of public comment is expected in spring 2022 to review the updated plan.

After an early heat wave in June and this last week of extreme heat, Idaho Highways 8 and 9 in Latah County are showing stress.

“Oil is flushing up to the surface of both highways, which can make for slick surfaces,” Operations Engineer Jared Hopkins said. “We want drivers to show more caution and know that we will continue to use fine sand to blot the moisture and keep the highways safe.”

Sections showing stress include ID-8 near Elk River and ID-9 near the ID-8 junction outside of Deary. Segments of these highways with curves, inclines or intersections where there is also heavy or turning traffic are more likely to be affected.

Over the last week, crews have also removed material to provide a better surface on select sections of ID-9 that received a sealcoat in 2020. Another project will be programmed in the coming years to rehabilitate the driving surface.