The Idaho Transportation Department will host an open house on Thursday, April 21, for construction later this summer on U.S. Highway 95 between Sagle Road and Lakeshore Drive.
The open house will be held from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the Northern Lights building at 421 Chevy Street in Sagle. Information about the project’s timeline, construction impacts and future plans for the US-95 corridor will be provided. No formal presentation will be given, but the project team will be available to answer questions.
The first phase of the project started in fall 2021 and built a new acceleration lane for drivers turning from Lakeshore Drive to head south on US-95. Earlier this week, crews started installing signs in the area and plan to finish striping as soon as weather allows.
“We need two days of good weather to put down fresh paint, so pay attention to signage in the area to know when your commute will be impacted,” ITD Project Manager Phil Stout said. “Two-way traffic will be maintained while the crews work during during the day.”
Construction for the second phase of the project is anticipated to start in August 2022. This season a U-turn on US-95 will be built as an alternative for drivers wanting to turn left from Lakeshore Drive, and the highway will be repaved from Monarch Road in Sagle to the Long Bridge. Next spring, a signal will be installed at the US-95 and Sagle Road intersection with a detour in place for Sagle Road east of the intersection.
“We know drivers have been dealing with potholes all spring, so we added work to the project to address that concern,” Stout said. “Our operations staff will continue to fill them in as needed, but this should provide long-term relief.”
The median U-turn and repaving will be completed by winter. During the U-turn construction, two-way traffic will be maintained during daytime hours, but during nighttime repaving, the highway will be reduced to one lane.
“Some of these details are subject to change once we have a contractor on board, but we want drivers to be aware of what is coming and know how to use the new U-turn,” Stout said.
The open house will also share an unfunded, potential concept for improvements at Bottle Bay Road, as well a study now underway to provide more details on what US-95 will look like in the future.
Join the project team at the open house or visit the website at itdprojects.org/us95lakeshoredrive to view construction updates and more information.