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Yesterday (June 5) a long-awaited project to improve safety on State Highway 53 near Hauser was awarded a $36 million grant, which could move construction up several years.

The project includes closing three at-grade railroad crossings and building a new interchange at Pleasant View Road and SH-53. About 46 train movements are recorded at the crossings each day.

“When the highway is blocked by trains, it cuts off communities on the prairie and potentially delays emergency services,” Engineering Manager Marvin Fenn said. “This project will make it safer for everyone by carrying cars up and over train traffic at one consolidated point at Pleasant View. Traffic will no longer be blocked, and trains won’t have to blow their horns when passing through.”

The department is evaluating the conditions of the grant as well as ongoing and future projects on SH-53 to determine how early construction of this two-year project can start.

“We had been planning to build it starting in 2028, but now we’re looking to build it much sooner,” Fenn said.

Download a rendering of the new design.

Funding comes from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration. Project partners include the BNSF Railway and the Post Falls Highway District with both entities contributing $3 million and $2 million respectively. ITD will contribute $4 million toward construction of the project. Construction is expected to total $45 million.

The project was first identified during a 2006 study called Bridging the Valley, which created a list of projects that would separate all vehicle traffic from train traffic along 42 miles of highway between Spokane, Washington, and Athol, Idaho.

Update: the project north of the SH-1 Junction will now start June 19 instead of June 12, and the project south of the SH-1 junction will now start June 21 instead of June 19. Check 511 for future schedule changes.

Two construction projects will start later this month on U.S. Highway 95 near Copeland.

The first project begins Monday, June 12, and will sealcoat about 10 miles north of the State Highway 1 Junction. Work will take about three weeks, with only one lane of the highway open during the day while crews are on site. All lanes will be open at night when crews are not on site, but the speed limit will remain reduced to prevent windshield damage from driving too quickly over rocks.

Another work zone will be set up on Monday, June 19, south of the SH-1 Junction to resurface seven miles. Crews will work a mix of daytime and nighttime shifts. Traffic will be reduced to one lane and controlled by a pilot car while workers are on site. Construction is expected to last about two months.

There will be about five miles between the work zones. No work is expected during the week of July 4.

Travelers are reminded to check 511.idaho.gov for delays from construction and other activities.

This summer 11 signals on U.S. Highway 95 in Coeur d’Alene and Hayden will be upgraded, with work set to start tonight.

Construction will occur Sunday night through Thursday night between 8 p.m./9 p.m. and 5 a.m. Weekend work is possible and will generally start later at night to minimize impacts.

The project will focus on one intersection at a time, with work scheduled to take about one week per intersection. The contractor will start upgrades tonight at the signals for the I-90 ramps and generally move north throughout the summer to the signal at Lancaster Road.

As each intersection receives repairs at night, the signal will be shut off, and the highway will be reduced to one lane. Traffic on all intersecting roadways will be controlled by flaggers, but by 5 a.m. the signal will be functioning normally.

Some intersections will experience more significant impacts. Construction will affect the below intersections both night and day. Traffic already on US-95 will not be able to turn left off the highway, and traffic on the side street will only be able to turn right onto the highway. Drivers needing to turn left off US-95 can follow posted detours or make a U-turn at the next intersection.

• Neider Avenue in late June
• Dalton Avenue in late June
• Hanley Avenue in mid-July
• Honeysuckle Avenue in late July
• Hayden Avenue in early August
• Wyoming Avenue in mid-August
• Lancaster Road in late August

Upgrades include many safety features, like pre-emption devices that will allow emergency services providers to trigger green lights when responding to calls or backup power that will ensure signals at the busiest intersections will stay lit during long outages.

“Over the last several years, we have seen extended power outages,” Project Manager Breanna Logerwell said. “When our signals lose power, they eventually go into flash mode, or each direction gets a flashing red or yellow light to stop or to yield. Some of these intersections see almost 60,000 vehicles a day, so that kind of stop-and-go situation creates significant congestion and can be a major safety concern if drivers don’t realize they’re not operating like normal.”

Many of the signals on US-95 have been in place more than 30 years, and the systems that detect traffic and send information to the signals have largely not been updated since before 2010.

“For those drivers who feel like the signal rotation skips them, this will solve that,” Logerwell said. “We’ll have the latest technology to detect traffic and optimize overall flow in the corridor.”

The project is expected to take about four months. A specialized consultant has been hired to develop a new timing plan for the signals after the upgrades are complete.

For live traffic impacts and to know the timing of construction at each intersection, visit 511.idaho.gov.

ELK CITY– Fuel is once again available for purchase in Elk City.

Signs in Grangeville and Darby that were placed in April notifying motorists about the lack of fuel services in Elk City will be removed.

To get continual updates about weather-related road conditions, road work, commercial vehicle restrictions, road closures, and other travel, please visit Idaho 511. Access it 24/7 on the web at 511.idaho.gov, by downloading the free mobile app or by dialing 511 on your phone.

Bridge repairs are underway on U.S. Highway 20 in Idaho Falls at the bridge over Riverside Drive.

Eastbound traffic will be reduced to one lane for approximately one week while crews repair the expansion joints.

The speed limit will be reduced to 35 mph.

The lane closure will remain in effect even when crews are not on site to allow the new concrete to cure.

More extensive repairs to the bridge are needed and planned for later this summer.

For updates on traffic impacts on state highways and interstates, drivers should check 511.idaho.gov before traveling.

Construction will begin Tuesday, May 30, in Sandpoint to widen U.S. Highway 2 south of its interchange with U.S. Highway 95.

Crews will build another lane for southbound traffic between the interchange and the visitor center.

“Adding another lane will make the highway four lanes and consistent with other sections, removing the bottleneck drivers currently experience,” Project Manager Erica Aamodt said.

The project will also increase the clearance underneath the railroad bridge so that taller loads may pass underneath.

“US-2 serves as an alternate route for US-95, so increasing the clearance to the current standard of 17 feet will allow a greater range of commercial vehicles to pass through without difficulty,” Aamodt said.

Work will take until mid-November to complete. Drivers will be able to pass through the work zone with one lane in each direction but should still plan for congestion.

Drivers can download the 511 app or check 511.idaho.gov to stay ahead of traffic impacts on state highways and interstates.