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The Idaho Transportation Department will begin constructing a series of safety improvements on Idaho Highway 69 (Meridian Road) in Meridian and Kuna next week. Motorists are advised to expect nighttime lane restrictions on the highway until early October.

Improvements will include:

• Resurfacing ID-69 between Orchard Avenue in Kuna and Overland Road in Meridian.
• Adding traffic signals at Hubbard and Lake Hazel roads.
• Installing a median barrier to reduce left-turn crashes between Calderwood Drive and Overland Road.
• Reconfiguring lanes at the intersection of Meridian and Overland roads to improve traffic flow.

ITD worked closely with the city of Meridian and Ada County Highway Department to develop the improvements after a recent safety analysis of the corridor. Crashes on ID-69 increased by nearly 50 percent between 2011 and 2016. ITD reached out to businesses earlier this year to discuss plans for this project.

Throughout this project, crews will work from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. on week nights (Sunday-Thursday) and 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. Friday and Saturday nights. One lane will be closed in both directions and flaggers will direct traffic at intersections. All lanes will be open during the day.

To request email updates about this project, text SH69 to 22828. For more details, visit itdprojects.org or contact ITD at (208) 334-8938 or Jennifer.gonzalez@itd.idaho.gov.

US-12 will be closed near Fish Creek Bridge on Friday night to allow contractors to retrieve a crane that went off the road last Thursday (Aug. 2).

A full closure is anticipated from 8 p.m. on Friday, August 10 to 8 a.m. on Saturday, August 11.

Due to the narrow and windy nature of the corridor, there are limited turnaround opportunities for larger vehicles. Drivers of larger vehicles are advised to wait for the highway to reopen or to turnaround before milepost 99 or milepost 120 to seek alternate routes.

For more information on this closure, check 511 or the project website.

Photo provided by the incident management team/Mike Mussman.

A fire along US-95 near Riggins has sparked a partnership between ITD and a Northern Rockies incident management team to enhance safety for travelers in the area.

The fire began near milepost 184 on July 23 and spread quickly through the corridor, according to Molly Cropp, a public information officer for this team of multi-agency professionals mobilized to address long-term incidents.

No structures have been lost, but this human-caused fire is still under investigation and is currently 42% contained. More than 450 emergency management professionals have mobilized into the area, with 12 hand crews, 21 engines and four helicopters working to protect citizens, their homes and the infrastructure they rely on, Cropp said.

That infrastructure includes the highway, which is currently experiencing increased traffic as crews drive between the fire and their base camp at the rodeo grounds north of Slate Creek. Safety concerns for crews, along with low visibility, prompted a meeting between the management team and ITD.

“With the fire initially visible from the highway, there were concerns of collisions between crews and regular commuters, especially with all of the smoke,” ITD north-central Idaho Operations Manager Bob Schumacher said. “We’ve decided to reduce the speed limit from 65 mph to 45 mph for the duration of the fire or until visibility improves.”

Right now travelers should expect large trucks making turns onto, and out of, less-used routes. Cropp, along with Schumacher, encourages the public to remain engaged while driving and to avoid stopping on the highway to take pictures.

“We’ve also been relying on air resources because the terrain around the fire is so steep, and we can’t get people in there,” Cropp said. “The speed restriction through the fire area has been really helpful; our helicopters have been flying over the highway to access nearby lakes.”

This time of year, and especially in this area, it is also important to understand the fire restrictions that are in place and to use common sense.

“Flashy fuels grow next to the highway, so don’t throw any cigarettes out the window,” Cropp said. “What starts as a small brush fire can quickly turn into a big fire.”

To learn more about the Rattlesnake Fire, view daily updates at the InciWeb page.

Plenty of folks fish along the Lochsa River that flows beside US-12 in north-central Idaho, but not many get to electrofish.

Electrofishing is a technique used by agencies such as Idaho Fish and Game (IDFG) to safely survey fish. It involves sending electricity into the water to temporarily stun fish to easily capture them with nets.

“It’s a way to sample fish without killing them,” said Joe DuPont, IDFG fisheries manager for the Clearwater region. “It allows us to get our hands on them and learn more.”

At the request of ITD, IDFG recently sent fisheries technicians to electrofish Maggie Creek, which flows under a bridge that is currently being replaced. They were able to collect important data* by surveying the fish before transporting them further upstream.

DuPont said as state agencies IDFG and ITD work together to share resources and expertise to save the state money.

ITD purposefully stages in-water work such as pier removal during a fish window, or a time when impacts to fish will be at its lowest. For District 2, that window is from July 15 to August 15.

“One month can be a tight timeframe for agencies to work within,” D2 senior environmental planner Shawn Smith said. “We appreciate IDFG’s continued partnership as we work to enhance the safety of the highway for the public while limiting impacts to the area’s valued resources.”

Following electrofishing, Smith said crews were able to use cofferdams to isolate a section of the stream without trapping any species. For the remainder of construction, fish will continue to swim upstream unimpeded.

Fish Creek Bridge, which is also under construction, will experience similar efforts by IDFG and ITD in the coming weeks.

*IDFG fisheries technicians found 1 rainbow trout, 13 speckled dace, 16 sculpin, 5 northern pike minnows, 3 suckers and 1 redside shiner while electrofishing.

US-12 winds its way through the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests and along the banks of the Lochsa River in north-central Idaho, serving as a scenic gateway to a range of outdoor activities from bicycling to rafting.

This summer, recreationists will see lines of orange barrels as the Idaho Transportation Department oversees the construction of $17 million in safety improvements.

Four projects to replace two bridges and repave 50 miles of the remote highway will likely delay the average traveler nearly two hours between Kamiah and the Idaho-Montana border. Given the impacts, project managers have strived from the beginning to be responsive to community concerns and to look at the corridor in its context.

As the project manager for three of the four projects, Janet Zarate has been at the forefront of brainstorming strategies to minimize effects where possible. With the help of her supervisor Joe Schacher, they’ve initiated an innovative partnership between contractors, a rafting company and ITD.

“This route is very popular among cyclists,” Zarate said. “It was important throughout the process to consider our impacts on this group, and by thinking outside of the box, I think we’ve found a way to do that.”

Zarate and Schacher worked with Knife River, the contractor of the paving operations, to come up with some creative ideas to mitigate construction impacts to this particular group.

With paving work underway, cyclists would be faced with long work zones and a highway crowded with drivers anxious to get on their way. Knife River suggested using school buses to load these two-wheeled travelers with their equipment, but Schacher posed a different solution: offer a daytime biker shuttle, operated by a local rafting company, to give them a respite by transporting them safely through the work zone.

Just last week, Three Rivers Rafting of Lowell accepted the offer.

“This partnership makes sense because at this time of year, the river doesn’t run as high, and there are fewer rafters,” Schacher said. “During their season, these companies routinely shuttle their customers up and down the river, and we didn’t see a reason for that to end this year. They have the right equipment, and we can give them an opportunity to economically benefit from construction.”

This partnership is not the first involving this project—ITD engineers have frequently met with local stakeholders, including the U.S. Forest Service as they prepare to celebrate the 50^th Anniversary of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.

“This highway means a lot to our stakeholders, whether they access it to go hiking, fishing, biking or just to enjoy the scenery,” Schacher said. “Knowing that, we’ve worked with others to be as conscientious as possible while planning and managing construction in the corridor.”

An oversize load went off US-12 last night (Aug. 2) at milepost 114 just west of Fish Creek Bridge.

There are no extra delays or restrictions through the corridor right now, but in the coming days a full closure will be announced to allow crews to remove the load. At this time the date and the duration of the full closure is unknown but is expected within the next week.

ITD will post updates via 511, signage, the project website and the corridor newsletter.

Work to resurface five miles of US-95 between Cougar Creek and Mica Creek is scheduled to begin August 6 and last for two months.

During construction, at least one lane will remain open in each direction, and flaggers will guide traffic at major intersections.

As ITD resurfaces the highway near intersections, travelers can expect brief closures. Emergency access will be maintained.

Crews are expected to work during the day with some possible weekend shifts.

Safety improvements to US-95 near Plummer will begin this week, with work expected to be completed in October.

Two bridges over Moctileme Creek will be replaced, and US-95 at the intersection of Windfall Pass Road will be realigned.

During the initial phase of construction, two lanes will remain open as crews construct an additional lane to be used as the bridges are demolished and rebuilt, one half at a time.

Once the temporary lane is finished, crews will start removing part of the old bridges, and travelers should expect delays and alternating, one-way traffic through the work zone.

When crews are not on site, the highway will be open to two lanes.

A 2013 study previously identified the Windfall Pass Road area as the site of the most frequent and severe crashes in the northern five counties, and since then, ITD has been designing this project to make it easier for drivers to negotiate the curve and to access the intersecting road.

For the latest traffic impacts, check 511.