Highway 41 widening hearing tonight

By BRIAN WALKER

Staff Writer

The Idaho Transportation Department will hold a public hearing tonight to provide information and gather input on plans to reconstruct about 2 miles of Highway 41 between Mullan Avenue and Prairie Avenue in Post Falls.

The hearing will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. at ITD, 600 W. Prairie Ave. just west of U.S. 95 in Hayden.

Highway 41 improvements from Post Falls to Rathdrum will be completed over two seasons, ITD's Lee Benardi told the Post Falls City Council.

The Mullan-to-Prairie section will be constructed in 2020, while Prairie-to-Rathdrum will be constructed in 2021.

The hearing is about the $14.5 million Mullan-to-Prairie section only. The entire section is estimated to cost $39 million.

"We are now into the intermediate design stages," Benardi said. "We encourage everybody to attend (the open house). We'll take comments and consider incorporating the ideas into the design."

A hearing officer will be available to record oral testimony in a private setting.

Proposed improvements include:

- Widening Highway 41 from two lanes to four with a median to resemble U.S. 95;

- Reconstructing the roadway surface;

- Installing improvements at the intersections of 16th Avenue, Poleline, Hope and Prairie;

- Constructing a stormwater system to improve drainage; and

- Adding a separated bicycle-pedestrian path on the east side.

Benardi said that during construction, the northbound lanes will be built first, leaving traffic where it is now.

"We hope to impact traffic as little as possible," he said.

Written testimony is due Dec. 12 at 5 p.m. Comments received after that will not be considered as part of the formal project record.

If you can't attend the hearing, you can mail or email comments to: Heather Carroll, PE, HDR; RE: ID-41, Mullan to Prairie project; 610 W. Hubbard Ave., Suite 227; Coeur d'Alene ID 83814; [email protected].