Springtime in Idaho offers different set of road maintenance challenges

As Idaho prepares to emerge from a historic winter that brought the most snow many areas had seen in decades, a new set of challenges face our road maintenance crews.

Hillsides saturated by snow and rain can release rockslides given the slightest provocation. Moisture coming in on the top of existing snowpack bring the threat of springtime avalanches. Suddenly higher temperatures lead to extensive melting, flood watches statewide and water-over-the-roadway concerns.

And drivers emerge from winter hibernation to return to area highways. It is as critical as ever for motorists to have access to current travel information, available at 511.idaho.gov.

Meanwhile, ITD crews will be constantly monitoring our state roads, looking for break-up, potholes, hazards, and general deterioration. The department is committed to removing or repairing any problem areas as soon as possible.

ITD warns against impaired driving

St. Patrick’s Day has become one of the nation’s most popular times to celebrate and party. But unfortunately, too many people are taking to the roads after drinking alcohol, making the holiday one of our most dangerous. In fact, 30 people were killed in drunk-driving crashes across the nation during the St. Patrick’s Day holiday period in 2015.

The Idaho Transportation Department is teaming with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and law enforcement groups statewide March 10-17 on extra patrols to curb these needless tragedies. These groups also want to share the message that Buzzed Driving Is Drunk Driving.

According to NHTSA, 252 people lost their lives in drunk-driving-related crashes during the St. Patrick’s Day holiday period from 2011-2015. More than a fourth of them were killed in drunk-driving crashes that occurred in the early morning, post-party hours after midnight.

If you plan to celebrate this St. Patrick’s Day, please follow these tips to stay safe:

– Before celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, decide whether you’ll drink or you’ll drive. You can’t do both.

– If you’re planning on driving, commit to staying sober. If you’ve been out drinking and then get behind the wheel, you run the risk of causing a crash or getting arrested for a DUI.

– If you have been drinking, call a taxi or sober friend or family member, or use public transportation.

– Also, try NHTSA’s SaferRide mobile app, which helps users call a taxi or a friend for a ride home and identify their location so they can be picked up.

– Walking while intoxicated can also be deadly, as lack of attention could put you at risk of getting hit by a vehicle.

– Help those around you be responsible, too. If someone you know is drinking, do not let them get behind the wheel and help them find a sober ride home.

– If you see someone who appears to be driving drunk, call the police. Your actions could help save a life.

Impaired driving causes tragedies all year round. According to NHTSA, 35,092 people were killed in motor vehicle traffic crashes in 2015, and 10,265 (29 percent) of those fatalities occurred in drunk-driving-related crashes. Remember this St. Patrick’s Day: Plan Before You Party! Buzzed Driving Is Drunk Driving. For more information, visit www.trafficsafetymarketing.gov.

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.

McGrath selected as new Chief Operations Officer

ITD Director Ness announced on Wednesday, March 1 that Travis McGrath has been selected as ITD’s new Chief Operations Officer following a thorough national search during the last several months. He is expected to start in late March.

Travis comes to ITD from the private sector. He has been the Pacific Northwest and Alaska “Operations Leader” at Golder Associates the past seven years and with the company for nearly 20 years.

“What stood out about Travis was his ability as a strong communicator and consensus builder, his strong decision-making experience and his understanding of the engineering side of operations, along with his diverse business background,” said Director Ness. “Travis has shown a history of setting the vision and holding those around him accountable throughout his career.”

Travis said he’s excited to move from Seattle area to serve ITD and the people of Idaho. He plans to begin this new chapter of his career at the end of March.

“I was intrigued by ITD’s recent transformation, which is impressive by any measure,” said McGrath. “I’ve held operational leadership roles in two diverse settings (US Army and consulting engineering) and recently navigated through a major organizational change like ITD’s. I believe that these experiences, along with my passion for teamwork and continual improvement, will help ITD continue its important mission through pursuit of innovation, risk management, and focusing on results.”

Travis brings a strong military background to this position. He served as a Combat Engineer Officer for more than a decade on active duty and as a reserve. He led a platoon during both Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm.

Travis replaces Jim Carpenter who served ITD for more than 31 years the last three-and-a-half as Chief Operations Officer.

North Idaho drivers seeing blue as ITD crews use new road salt

As winter weather continues in the region, drivers in north Idaho are now seeing blue as ITD maintenance crews begin using a new blue salt product. The new salt may represent the next stage in the department’s efforts to improve road-clearing efforts and resulting public safety.

According to the manufacturer, Saltworx, the blue salt is less corrosive than traditional salt, and less of the new blue salt is needed to achieve the same results that traditional salt can provide, so it is potentially a cost savings as well.

“We are just experimenting with it at this stage, but it has the potential to save money, some wear-and-tear on vehicles, and most importantly, be more effective on the roads,” said ITD’s north Idaho management assistant, Mike Lenz.

The new blue salt will be used on 1,500 miles of area roads across the region.

Nampa Road Closure Alert: Section of Karcher Road to close Feb. 24-27

Karcher Road between Midway Road and Lake Avenue in Nampa will close at 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 24 and reopen at 5 a.m. Monday, Feb. 27. Flaggers will direct traffic through a detour route.

During the detour, motorists traveling east on Karcher Road will turn south on Lake Avenue, east on Orchard Street and north on Midway Road back to Karcher Road. Motorists traveling west on Karcher Road will turn north on Midway Road, west on Homedale Road and south on Lake Avenue back to Karcher Road.

Truck traffic will be directed to use Farmway Road and Interstate 84 to avoid the closure.

ITD needs to replace the Isaiah drain pipe that runs under Karcher Road before making future improvements to the roadway later this year.

Karcher-Midway closure details

Questions or comments about the project can be directed to Jennifer Gonzalez at (208) 334-8938 or Jennifer.gonzalez@itd.idaho.gov.

Idahoans saved more lives in 2016

BOISE – Idahoans are typically a kind and giving people. That was reinforced in 2016, as a record number of Idaho citizens chose to save a life.

The simple act of choosing organ donation on their driver’s license or state ID card translated into a significant increase in the number of organs transplanted last year, to 169, up from 113 in 2015. Customers at any county DMV site can select organ donation when completing a driver’s license or ID card transaction, and those accessing the DMV’s online site can choose the yesidaho! website to designate organ donation.

More Idahoans — 64 percent — choose to be organ donors than the national average, which is just 51 percent. There are about 800 people on the waiting list for organ donations in Idaho. There are no transplant centers in the Gem State, so recipients go to Portland, Seattle, Salt Lake City, or Denver for transplants.

Intermountain Donor Services and the Idaho Transportation Department held a press conference Wednesday (Feb. 8) at 10:30 a.m. to discuss what the increase means to those personally affected.

“When we break a record, we typically use numbers to show results. When talking about organ and tissue donation, however, numbers do not paint the whole picture,” said Alex McDonald, public education director at Intermountain Donor Services. “Each organ transplanted means someone has been given a second chance — an opportunity to spend more time with family and friends, to continue working, and to make a difference.”

“Each organ and tissue donor will be deeply missed by family and friends, but is a hero in the lives of those they saved. We have invited a few people to share their stories and provide a broader understanding of what these record-breaking numbers really mean,” he added.

Those sharing their personal stories were:

– Rick Brittell, a heart transplant recipient who recently met his donor family
– Terri Magnuson, a cornea transplant recipient and donor mom
– Jonathan Long, liver transplant recipient
– Stacy McGrew, donor mom
– Dr. Mike Malea, a nephrologist working with patients with kidney disease
– Ed Pemble, DMV Program Manager, ITD

Many people contribute to the success of the organ, eye and tissue donation program in Idaho. First, of course, are the individuals and families who said yes to donation. The employees of the Idaho Transportation Department also make a huge difference in saving lives, providing educational materials and contact information to Idahoans with questions about donation.

For more information or to sign up on the Idaho Donor Registry, log on to www.yesidaho.org

I-15 port features new tech, $2.1M annual savings

POCATELLO – New Weigh-in-Motion/Automatic Vehicle Identification (WIM/AVI) technology recently installed in southeastern Idaho at the Inkom Port of Entry (POE) is expected to fast-track benefits for commercial vehicles using the scales, the general motoring public, and local economies to the tune of $2.1 million annually.

Approximately 3,100 commercial vehicles use the port each day, and another 14,000 passenger vehicles pass by on Interstate 15. The estimated annual savings to the industry is based on time and fuel savings. If a truck is compliant, this message appears on the sign near the roadway and the truck can continue.

The motoring public will also see less congestion in the area of the weigh station because fewer trucks will be required to pull in for processing.

“The possibilities are exciting,” said David Hankla, who manages ITD Ports of Entry in eastern and southeastern Idaho. “The system has been fine-tuned compared to earlier installations, so the potential upside is tremendous.”

The WIM/AVI system allows commercial trucks that meet state size and weight limits to bypass weigh stations at highway speeds. It is estimated that 50 to 60 percent of commercial truck traffic will be able to bypass the port.

Loops embedded in the roadway track the movement of each vehicle through the system, which registers the vehicle’s weight and axle configuration as it travels over the scales at highway speed. As truck drivers cruise down the highway, the electronic system verifies that the truck’s legal weight, height, length, safety rating and credentials are in adherence with the law.

If everything checks out legally, the truck driver receives a green light on their transponder or a message on a changeable message sign directing them to bypass the weigh station and continue on its route. Conversely, if there are any legal issues, the driver receives a red light or direction to report to the weigh station for further inspection. Drivers may also receive a red light for a random pull-in.

This allows more time to be spent checking commercial vehicles for weight and safety violations. Trucks running safe and legal loads benefit by not being slowed down with redundant stops as they make their way across country. Economically, more freight moved more efficiently means better profit margins for the industries affected.

The installation south of Pocatello finished in late January. A grant from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration kick-started the project. ITD’s part of the match was $596,000 for building slabs and conduit runs to support scale installation and hardware for the WIM system. The project was fast-tracked from project design phase to construction due to extremely tight grant deadlines.

Similar systems have been installed at the East Boise POE, the Huetter POE in Coeur d’Alene, and at the Lewiston POE. The Sage Junction POE in eastern Idaho, about 60 miles south of the Montana border, is slated for the next WIM/AVI installation, starting later this year. WIM/AVI locations are determined by factors such as volume of commercial truck traffic, need, and industry input.

ITD Extends Pavement Resurfacing Limits from Nampa to Caldwell

BOISE–The Idaho Transportation Department will repave Interstate 84 from Nampa to Caldwell (Franklin Boulevard to Franklin Road) this summer.

The department has been working to accelerate construction and reduce costs in order to extend the project limits following a mid-January ITD Board vote to advance a project to repave a smaller segment of I-84 between Karcher Road and Franklin Road.

With design support from ITD’s Pocatello office, work originally slated to begin in 2018 and 2019 will be constructed this summer. Also, key to moving this project forward is support from the cities of Nampa and Caldwell, along with the Community Planning Association of Southwest Idaho (COMPASS).

The project includes resurfacing the entire stretch of both east and westbound I-84 between Nampa and Caldwell with the majority of the work occurring over the course of four weekends. This timeline is significantly less than the anticipated four-month construction timeframe if work were to follow traditional construction and scheduling methods.

Staging work over four weekends provides a much safer work zone for crews. The weekend work also reduces the impact to the traveling public, the overall time to complete the work, and the cost of the project through less traffic management during construction. These cost savings allow ITD to extend the project to Franklin Boulevard.

“We recognize the importance of this corridor and have focused our efforts on completing this resurfacing work as swiftly as possible,” said ITD District 3 Engineer Amy Revis.

Details and impacts of the project will be shared through outreach with stakeholders, commuters, businesses and community members, and media in the coming weeks.

While this maintenance work addresses deterioration of the roadway due to age and extensive pothole damage suffered this winter, it does not include widening. Widening I-84 from Nampa to Caldwell is estimated to cost $330 million. ITD’s available funding statewide for pavement maintenance, bridge replacements and safety improvements is approximately $300 million annually.

Due to current transportation funding levels, ITD is focused on preservation and maintenance of the existing system. In the interim, ITD and COMPASS continue to aggressively pursue grants to start expansion of that roadway.

Contact:
Jennifer Gonzalez
District 3 Communication
208-334-8938
jennifer.gonzalez@itd.idaho.gov

Drivers advised to watch for potholes, roadway breakup

As a winter for the ages rages on, potholes are developing in roadway surfaces across the state. Record precipitation and multiple freeze-thaw cycles are causing distress in many of the highways we all rely on for safe travel. ITD maintenance crews are maintaining roadways and fixing potholes when possible.