Five U.S. 95 intersections to close Thursday

Five intersections on U.S. 95 will close Thursday as part of an Idaho Transportation Department project north of Athol.

Closing the intersections marks a “major milestone” for the U.S. 95 Granite Hill project, as traffic is “expected to shift to the newly paved east-side frontage road,” ITD spokeswoman Megan Jahns said.

Intersections set to close Thursday include:

• Mara Meadows

• Granite Loop Road

• Old House Road

• Homestead Road, and

• North Williams Lane

Trails End Road will also receive new turn lanes and lighting, a news release said.

Following closures, the intersections will be reconnected to frontage roads that will run parallel on both sides of the highway until late 2022. Construction teams will maintain the three current lanes on U.S. 95, but drivers will see a reduced speed limit of 45 mph, Jahns said.

“This shift is necessary to allow us to rebuild the primary lanes,” project manager Steven Bakker said. “We have also started grading the alignment of the west-side frontage road, so we have closed the south entrance to Granite Loop Road.”

The $21 million project, which began earlier this year, aims to increase safety by:

• Expanding U.S. 95 to four lanes over Granite Hill, and

• Constructing two-lane frontage roads to reduce direct highway access

“Drivers can expect to travel on the frontage road until near the end of construction,” Bakker said. “There’s more blasting in the future of this project, so we always urge drivers to pay attention to signs in the work zone and to check 511.”

Both the U.S. 95 expansion and frontage roads are expected to be completed by fall 2022, according to the ITD project webpage.