Nighttime I-90 resurfacing set to begin on Wednesday
Photo courtesy of Idaho Transportation Department This photo taken with a drone shows Interstate 90 looking east from near the state line on the west side of Post Falls. This stretch of the freeway will be resurfaced during the nights starting Wednesday and continuing through September.
Photo courtesy of Idaho Transportation Department This photo shows U.S. 95 at Canfield Avenue in Coeur d’Alene. Improvements to maximize mobility at intersections in the corridor started on Monday.
Sausser
Motorists on the area's two busiest stretches of highway are about to undergo a double dose of construction.
Transportation officials say the traffic delays will be minor during work on Interstate 90 from the state line to the Northwest Boulevard exit in Coeur d'Alene as well as on U.S. 95 in Coeur d'Alene and Hayden.
Nighttime resurfacing of the 11-mile stretch of I-90 starts Wednesday and will last through September. There will be single-lane closures; work on the eastbound passing lane will be first.
"Contractors can be on site from 7:30 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. Sunday night through Thursday night," Idaho Transportation Department spokeswoman Megan Sausser said. "Weekend work is allowed but not expected."
Sausser said the passing lanes would be resurfaced first, followed by the slow lanes and, finally, the ramps.
"I would classify the traffic delays as minor, especially given the daytime impacts drivers have experienced the past two years on I-90," Sausser said. "It's purposefully staged at night to make it less impactful."
Although there are no limitations on the length of the work zone, ITD expects it to be performed in 4- to 5-mile stretches.
"The stretch from Washington to Northwest Boulevard won't be closed all at once," Sausser said.
Road conditions will revert to normal during the day.
The $4.4 million project, which will eliminate rutting, will be funded 93 percent with federal dollars and 7 percent with state funds.
Meanwhile, surveying along U.S. 95 started Monday for a project that will improve mobility with uniform signal spacing and increased capacity on side streets.
Traffic impacts are not expected until next week when Americans with Disabilities Act upgrades begin.
"Pedestrians and bicyclists will be affected for most of the season with detours and closed crosswalks," Sausser said.
ADA work will progress from the south with 14 intersections expected to be done by November.
Sausser said traffic impacts will be minor.
"Excluding two weeks of daytime lane closures at Fourth Street and I-90 as pedestrian facilities are upgraded, drivers should only expect shoulder closures during ADA upgrades," she said.
Sausser said impacts will increase later this summer as the pedestrian pathway is reconstructed and turn lanes are added.
The Bosanko signal will be removed in late August. Turn lanes will be added at the Kathleen and Dalton intersections in September and October. Installation of curbed medians will occur throughout the project.
ITD will reconstruct eight miles of the existing pedestrian path on the east side of U.S. 95 from Appleway Avenue to Garwood Road. Another 11 miles of the path to the north will be constructed next year.
Next year's construction includes the extension of Wilbur, removing the Canfield signal, installing new signals at Miles and Wilbur and adding turn lanes to the remaining side streets.
Timing for the replacement of the Kathleen signal that was struck by a motorist in June has not been finalized.