'Build it now': ITD gets plenty of feedback on I-90 improvement plans

COEUR d’ALENE — Dennis and Michelle Bush of Post Falls were apprehensive when they arrived at Wednesday’s open house on preliminary Interstate 90 corridor designs.

They own about 700 feet of property that fronts I-90, and they were worried the Idaho Transportation Department's initial plans might impact it.

They came away relieved to learn it would be left alone.

“It’s not going to hurt it. It’s not going to touch it at all,” Dennis Bush said, adding that made him “very happy. Very, very happy.”

Michelle Bush said they are supportive of improving the key corridor between Post Falls and Coeur d’Alene.

“The area is growing. It does need to get widened,” she said. “If an accident happens between 41 and Northwest Boulevard, you’re pretty much stuck, so they do need another lane.”

A steady flow of people came and went at the open house at the Best Western Plus Coeur d’Alene Inn, hosted by ITD to collect feedback designs "to modernize the system, reduce crashes and save drivers time" from the Washington state line to east Coeur d'Alene.

About 10 ITD representatives answered questions and manned tables, where charts and maps detailed proposed improvements and costs for specific areas in the corridor.

About 150 people attended a similar open house in Post Falls on Tuesday. Megan Jahns, ITD spokeswoman, said there seemed to be general agreement that increasing traffic is a problem, and it needs to be fixed.

“We all know the growth. We all know it’s going to get worse,” she said. “Everyone seemed pretty settled on, ‘We need to do something,’”

Average daily traffic on I-90 between Highway 41 and Ramsey Road is currently estimated at 58,000, according to ITD. By 2045, it’s projected to be 137,000.

Jahns said if nothing is done, “The interstate will essentially become a parking lot you avoid because you won’t get to where you need to go.”

Since the first stretch of I-90 was built in Kootenai County in 1960, ITD has made some upgrades, but the number of lanes has not changed.

Proposed improvements include expanding eastbound and westbound I-90 to four lanes each between Post Falls and Coeur d’Alene. Changes also call for modifying access and upgrading interchanges.

Other improvements include the Seventh Street Bridge, and interchanges at Spokane Street and Seltice Way, Northwest Boulevard, U.S. 95, Fourth Street and Sherman Avenue.

Preliminary estimates value the improvements needed from the Washington state line to east Coeur d’Alene at just over $1 billion. The bulk of that, about $450 million, is the estimated cost for improving Highway 41 to 15th Street in Coeur d’Alene.

One man wasn’t a big fan.

“All I see is money,” he said.

Tim Turrell of Post Falls said he liked Alternative B for the Post Falls area. It called for interchanges at I-90 and Spokane Street, Idaho Road and Syringa Street. The Seltice Way interchange would be removed. It also included an I-90 collector-distributor road between Spokane Street and Syringa Street.

Turrell, who retired from the ITD, said that would improve traffic flow in Post Falls and help people get to where they're going on time.

Following the study and public input, the recommended projects will be prioritized and advanced into design and construction as funding becomes available, according to ITD.

Jahns said if funding is found and approved, construction on I-90 lane additions between Highway 41 and U.S. 95 could begin in 2024.

“That is our most congested area,” she said.

Terry Semanko of Coeur d’Alene made his views clear with one statement: “Just get busy and build it.”

He said no matter what, not everyone will be happy. He worries there will be so much arguing in Boise about what to do in North Idaho and how to pay for it, nothing will happen.

“Build it now and 20 or 30 years from now, worry about it. If it needs change, then change it," he said. "You can’t just sit here.”

Semanko said he was a kid when the freeway was built in Coeur d’Alene. He later hired on with ITD on the survey crew when I-90 was expanded in the area.

Retired today, his career involved highway work and he learned a few things.

“You’re never going to be perfect,” Semanko said. “We need something. Build it, argue later.”