ITD sets open house on I-90 plan

COEUR d’ALENE — The Idaho Transportation Department will host an open house next week in Coeur d’Alene to present designs to modernize Interstate 90 between Highway 41 and 15th Street.

The plans are funded by Gov. Brad Little’s Leading Idaho initiative and include adding lanes to increase capacity on I-90 and modernizing infrastructure like interchanges that were originally built with the interstate in the 1960s and '70s, according to a press release.

The open house is set for 4 to 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Best Western Plus Coeur d'Alene Inn. It will feature designs from two projects; the overarching corridor study that will determine the scope of improvements between Highway 41 and 15th Street and the design for widening I-90 from Highway 41 to U.S. 95.

“Throughout the study, we have heard repeatedly that we need to make I-90 safer and more reliable by increasing capacity to address congestion,” project manager Erika Bowen said. “With a nearly 16-mile corridor to improve, we are moving forward with the study in the Coeur d’Alene area while simultaneously advancing the most-congested section between SH-41 and US-95 to final design."

She said the model of breaking the corridor into smaller projects will help improve travel for residents where it is needed most, while ITD completes design plans and obtains funding for the rest of the corridor.

The design project is the first in the concurrent I-90 corridor study and is anticipated to get underway in 2024, the release said.

The open house will not provide updates on other sections of the study, including the Post Falls area. With limited funding identified for the corridor, projects will be prioritized for design and construction based on traffic analysis and project readiness. Corridorwide improvements are anticipated to take 10 to 20 years to build.

Preliminary estimates value the improvements needed for I-90 between the state line and Coeur d’Alene at nearly $1 billion, which includes design, right-of-way and construction costs.

For those not able to attend the open house, an online option will share the same information and be available Tuesday at itdprojects.org/i90corridor. Comments submitted online before Sept. 5 will be considered by the project team.