Summer road construction chaos looms in 2017-18

COEUR d'ALENE — Buckle up, Coeur d'Alene motorists and businesses. Next year, and again in 2018, you'll be in for an agonizing ride on the city’s busiest roadways.

Both directions of Interstate 90 on the east end of Coeur d'Alene will be completely torn up next year and rebuilt from Ninth Street to Sherman Avenue.

Then, in 2018, the project will resume from Ninth Street to just west of the Northwest Boulevard interchange on the west side of the city.

"This (3.85-mile) section of roadway was built for a very different time," said Ben Ward, Idaho Transportation Department engineer and the project manager. "There's so many more vehicles out there than when it was built.”

The freeway was constructed in 1960.

"Since then, periodic inlays and overlays have been built, but no work on the roadway base has been done," Ward said.

Ward said the $20 million project is necessary because the stretch has deteriorated beyond routine repair and maintenance.

"Our maintenance folks have gone out there a lot to patch potholes and it's been resurfaced several times, but it's gotten to be a surface that we can no longer maintain so the entire structure of the roadway will be rebuilt," Ward said.

Additionally, many semitractor-trailers now have to exit in Coeur d'Alene because the rigs and trailers are too tall to travel under the bridges along I-90. That, in turn, causes traffic snarls in the city and beats up the roads used for detours, like Appleway.

The westbound overheight truck detour route is to exit at 15th Street, head north to Best Avenue, west to U.S. 95 and south to the freeway. The eastbound route is to exit at Northwest Boulevard, head south to Sherman and then east to I-90.

"A lot of eastbound trucks just use the reverse of the westbound route (to avoid Sherman)," Ward said.

Ward said the freeway under the bridges will be lowered 2 feet to resolve the semitrailer issue.

"It's just progress," Ward said, referring to the clearance dilemma. "Bridges are built for a 50-year life and they usually last 75. During that time, trucks and trailers have gotten taller to handle bigger loads."

Today's minimum standard for clearance under new bridges is 16 feet and Federal Highway Administration recommends 17 feet to get ahead of the curve.

Ward said freeway bridges in Coeur d'Alene have clearances of 15 to 16 feet, which has caught some drivers by surprise despite warning signs.

"We've had to replace girders several times because of damage (from semi-trailers not having enough clearance)," Ward said.

Ward said they hope to start construction in April each year and be completed by fall.

During both years of the project, the westbound lanes will be completed first. Westbound traffic will be diverted onto a normally-eastbound lane, making the eastbound lanes a two-way road during construction. The scenario will be reversed when construction is occurring on the eastbound lanes.

While freeway traffic will be affected both years, the higher-impact year for the project will be in 2018 due to heavier traffic on I-90 at the west end of Coeur d'Alene, the close proximity of the U.S. 95 and Fourth Street ramps and ramp closures that will likely hurt nearby businesses.

Ward said the Fourth Street on-ramp and U.S. 95 off-ramp will be closed during the first half of construction in 2018. During the second half of construction that year, the U.S. 95 on-ramp and Fourth Street off-ramp will be closed.

"More work will be required during the second year to get the ramps tied in to the new freeway grade (near the bridges)," Ward said. "The lack of distance between the ramps means we've got too much going on in too small of an area for traffic to safely navigate it. You know how disruptive it is now trying to get on and off, imagine (what it would be like during construction). It would really make for a very abrupt entrance and exit and safety comes into play."

With the impact on businesses, Coeur d'Alene Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Steve Wilson said the chamber is warning companies to be prepared.

"A business should plan ahead looking for creative ways to minimize any possible negative effects and also look for possible opportunities to draw new business," Wilson said. "Customers that might be affected could be presented alternatives prior to being surprised that they have been inconvenienced. Getting the word out now is our primary issue."

From Ninth Street east, there are no bridges that go over the freeway. Thus, there won't be any ramp closures in 2017, lessening impacts on businesses.

The project also will include improving lighting, upgrading the concrete median barrier and repairing guardrails.

Ward said the project does not include widening the freeway. He said an auxiliary lane in both directions from Fourth Street and U.S. 95 that would allow traffic to enter and exit the freeway easier is envisioned and desired, but federal approval was not granted for that with this project. Auxiliary lanes would connect the ramps at those locations, giving drivers more distance to enter or exit the freeway.

"We're going to keep working on (auxiliary lanes)," Ward said. "They would reduce the number of conflicts (between traffic) because now, when you run out of real estate, you either have to get off the freeway or stop. And stopping is never good on the interstate."

Ward said the project is expected to go out to bid in October. It will be paid for mostly with federal funds with a 7 percent state match.

A public meeting on the project was held at the ITD office on Wednesday night, but others will be scheduled in the future, Ward said.

"We want to reach out to as many stakeholders, including emergency responders, as possible," Ward said. "If anyone has any ideas that can be incorporated to make the project run smoother, we're open to that."

An average of 38,880 vehicles, including 4,400 trucks, travel along I-90 in Coeur d'Alene per day during summer season, according to ITD.

Ward said the deteriorating condition of the interstate is driving the project, but now is also the time to make the height adjustments under the bridges, since the freeway is already torn up.

"If the roadway was holding up, we could have another year or two to plan, but it's not holding up so we need to get it done as quickly as possible," Ward said.

The I-90 project is just one piece of multiple projects on major roads that will occur in Coeur d'Alene over the next two years.

Other improvement projects are slated for U.S. 95 south of Coeur d'Alene, Ironwood Drive and Seltice Way in 2017. In addition to the I-90 rebuild, U.S. 95 improvements from Coeur d'Alene to Highway 53 are slated in 2018.

"Wow — are we all in for two-plus summers of construction chaos," Wilson said.

Ward said the I-90 project was intentionally slated to start on the east end of Coeur d'Alene first due to the other projects occurring on the west side next year.

For more information about the Interstate 90 project, call Ward at 772-1285 or email ben.ward@itd.idaho.gov.