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Goodbye, orange highway cones

| October 25, 2018 1:00 AM

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Construction on Interstate 90 wraps up this week. Crews have been reconstructing I-90 between Ninth Street and Northwest Boulevard this year. Last year the freeway was reconstructed between Ninth and Sherman Avenue.(LOREN BENOIT/Press)

By BRIAN WALKER

Staff Writer

COEUR d'ALENE — Interstate 90 in Coeur d'Alene has been a stretch Josie Danvers tried to avoid whenever possible for the past two years.

"It got to the point that I didn't want to deal with the traffic, especially at peak times," the Post Falls woman said Wednesday while filling her gas tank in Coeur d'Alene. "I've been trying to go around it (on Seltice Way) because I'd rather lose some time than sit stalled in traffic."

Relief is finally on the way.

Construction is expected to finish Friday.

"The pain should be over soon," said Megan Sausser, Idaho Transportation Department spokeswoman. "Crews are installing guardrail and hydro-seeding, and traffic is expected to revert back to normal conditions this Friday.

"After that, some minor work such as striping will remain, but, in the eyes of the public, it will be substantially complete."

Sausser said the project is finishing up on time.

The wrap-up will come after construction rankled — and confused — many drivers with lane and speed changes, closures and other moves necessary to perform the work. Some drivers who navigated the changes and hundreds of orange barrels drove past the exits they wanted because they weren't in the right lane to turn off.

"We’d like to thank the public for their patience during the construction process," Sausser said. "We know the ramp closures and lane configurations could be inconvenient for drivers at times, but in the end the department is glad to have been able to maintain two lanes of traffic in each direction and to provide drivers with a new and improved interstate for years to come."

Danvers was ecstatic about the construction update.

"Hell has frozen over," she said with a smile. "The construction of this project, not to mention many other projects in this area, have really tested my patience. We've gotten hit from all sides at once. I just hope that improvements can be made to deal with the population growth."

Crews have been reconstructing I-90 between Ninth Street and Northwest Boulevard this year. Last year the freeway was reconstructed between Ninth and the Sherman Avenue exit.

The total construction cost for the two-year project is $23.5 million.

Work has consisted of replacing drainage facilities and lighting and increasing the vertical clearance under the bridges by lowering the interstate.

The work brings bridges over the interstate up to standard and allows taller loads to travel through, eliminating the need for an alternate route.

Sausser said a question many drivers have asked during construction is when there will be more than two lanes in each direction on the freeway in Coeur d'Alene. This project isn't a widening effort.

She said there are no plans in the immediate future to widen the stretch due to a lack of funds. The work near the Huetter Port of Entry is to accommodate traffic flow and bridge maintenance next spring. The roads constructed in the median will be permanent to allow for lane changes during emergencies.

The latest study estimates that the expansion of I-90 to a divided, six-lane roadway from state line to 15th Street in Coeur d'Alene could cost about $120 million. That does not include the expansion of six bridges in the stretch, which could elevate the cost another $120 million.

Even though federal funds would spare ITD the majority of bridge replacement costs and all but 7 percent of pavement costs, that’s still a big chunk of the local ITD district’s budget, which is set at $29 million for next year and designated for pavement work only, Sausser said.

However, that doesn’t mean the freeway in the metro area will stay the same in the foreseeable future, Sausser said. ITD will still maintain overpasses to reduce rutting, redesign the I-90/Highway 41 interchange at Post Falls and, depending on the success of a grant application, relocate of the port of entry to the west.