Transportation Department unveils updated concept for U.S. 95 expansion project

By Zach Hagadone
Reader Staff

About a year after gathering feedback and sharing several design concepts with the public in November 2023, the Idaho Transportation Department has unveiled a new preferred concept for a sweeping redesign of the six miles of U.S. Highway 95 from Dufort Road to Lakeshore Drive.

Officials with the department most recently met with community members for an informational session Oct. 16 at Sagle Elementary School, where they shared details of the preferred plan, which includes widening U.S. 95 into a four-lane divided highway with two new interchanges, an underpass and frontage roads running parallel from Dufort to Lakeshore, where it transitions onto the Long Bridge. 

The US-95 preferred concept as proposed by ITD. Courtesy image.

Lanes running north and south would be 12 feet wide each, with 10-foot outside shoulders and a concrete median barrier. Frontage roads would feature two 12-foot-wide lanes with five-foot shoulders and a 10-foot shared-use pathway. 

Many residents had been anxious and even angry over another concept shared widely in April that envisioned expanding and rerouting the highway in a wide arc to the east, which would have run though numerous properties and more than a dozen homes, as well as near Sagle Elementary.

ITD stressed that no plan had been officially adopted and, on Oct. 16, shared that the new concept would keep the highway running along its current route.

According to the new map, the project would begin at Mile Post 465.2 with an interchange at Dufort Road. Frontage roads would run along the east and west sides of the highway, with the eastern route connecting to Algoma Spur Road then running north to an underpass at Ivy Drive and U.S. 95.

Another underpass is envisioned where Gun Club and Monarch roads cross the highway — just north of Mile Post 469) — as well as an interchange at Brisboys Road about a third of the way between M.P. 470 and 471.

The preferred concept remains just that — conceptual — while the department continues to gather feedback until Thursday, Oct. 31 at itdprojects.idaho.gov/pages/us-95-dufort-to-lakeshore.

Before any dirt can be turned, however, ITD will also have to conclude an environmental review, as well as identify funding. Combined with the process of nailing down a final design and securing right of way, it’s estimated that the U.S. 95 Dufort-Lakeshore project could be as far as 15 years from its groundbreaking, according to previous statements from officials.

Meanwhile, as ITD refines its concept, it has taken public input to heart — including rethinking the eastward realignment that would have affected so many property owners, eliminating a previously envisioned overpass at Bottle Bay Road, and changing the Gun Club/Monarch Road and Ivy Drive/Algoma Spur Road crossings from overpasses to underpasses.

Though the timeline on the project is long, the needs it is meant to address are pressing. According to ITD, based on the explosive growth trends in North Idaho, average daily traffic on U.S. 95 is projected to increase by 64% between 2045 and the present. 

“As growth and congestion have increased, safety is an increasing concern,” the department stated in its frequently-asked-questions document. “This area of U.S. 95 has seen over 150 crashes in the last two years, including three fatalities. A four-lane divided highway is necessary to address both congestion and safety.”

Without action, traffic congestion would “reach unacceptable levels in future years.”

Officials also wrote that they were prioritizing the U.S. 95 project over widening the vehicle portion of the Long Bridge in order to lessen congestion in the corridor first, then address work on the bridge as it approaches the end of its lifespan, which after repairs in 2021 should extend to 2081 — 100 years after it was built.

While community members had asked ITD whether it would install more traffic signals or roundabouts on the stretch of U.S. 95 addressed by the project, the department stated that it had opted for interchanges as a way to control the flow of traffic onto and off the highway, while frontage roads are intended to separate local traffic from the higher-speed travel lanes.

“Because this is being designed as a controlled access facility, there will be no signals or roundabouts needed,” ITD stated.

In addition, the new bicycle and pedestrian pathways would be located on the west side from Ivy Drive to the Long Bridge and on the east from Algoma Spur to Monarch Road. 

“ITD will continue to gather input and engage with the community and key stakeholders over the next several years as the design is refined, environmental re-evaluation approval is obtained and funding is secured,” the department stated.

For more info, call 208-243-9326 or email [email protected]. Visit the project website at itdprojects.idaho.gov/pages/us-95-dufort-to-lakeshore.