The Idaho Transportation Department will host an open house next week in Coeur d’Alene to present designs to modernize I-90 between State Highway 41 and 15th Street. Plans are funded by Governor Little’s Leading Idaho initiative and include adding lanes to increase capacity on I-90 and modernizing infrastructure like interchanges that were originally built with the interstate in the 1960s and 1970s.
Details for the open house:
Date: Tuesday, August 22
Time: 4 p.m. – 7 p.m.
Location: Best Western Plus Coeur d’Alene Inn
506 West Appleway Avenue, Coeur d’Alene, ID 83814
The open house will feature designs from two projects: the overarching corridor study that will determine what the scope of improvements are between SH-41 and 15th Street and the design for widening I-90 from SH-41 to U.S. Highway 95.
For those not able to attend the open house, an online option will share the same information and be available on August 22 at itdprojects.org/i90corridor. Comments submitted online before September 5 will be considered by the project team.
“Throughout the study, we have heard repeatedly that we need to make I-90 safer and more reliable by increasing capacity to address congestion,” Project Manager Erika Bowen said. “With a nearly 16-mile corridor to improve, we are moving forward with the study in the Coeur d’Alene area while simultaneously advancing the most congested section between SH-41 and US-95 to final design. This model of breaking the corridor into smaller projects will help to improve travel for residents where it is needed most, while we complete design plans and obtain funding for the rest of the corridor.”
The open house will feature both information on the larger corridor study and design plans to widen the most congested section between SH-41 and US-95. The design project is the first project to come out of the concurrent I-90 corridor study and is anticipated to begin construction in 2024.
The open house will not provide updates on other sections of the study, including the Post Falls area. With limited funding identified for the corridor, projects will be prioritized for design and construction based on traffic analysis and project readiness. Corridor-wide improvements are anticipated to take 10 to 20 years to build.
The I-90 corridor study is funded by Governor Little’s Leading Idaho initiative. The program allows ITD to accelerate project timelines to address rapid growth and build critical infrastructure today that would otherwise take many years to fund and build. Preliminary estimates value the improvements needed for I-90 between Washington state line and Coeur d’Alene at nearly $1 billion, which includes design, right of way and construction costs.
To stay up to date on the I-90 corridor project, visit itdprojects.org/i90corridor and sign up for email updates.