My Turn: ITD open house observations
Some thoughts on the Idaho Transportation Department open house Aug. 22 regarding Interstate 90 improvements, both in "design phase" and "being studied."
First point: The ITD open house had NOTHING to reference/show the approved 440-acre portion of the Coeur Terre (CT) plan with 2,800 homes plus another 500,000 (More?) square feet of commercial/office/non-residential/two schools with the primary north/south road being Huetter. The Huetter Bypass WITH A FULL I-90 INTERCHANGE is essential for even the approved 440-acre section to not make a misery of the existing street network, not to mention the added 600-acre plan that has been hidden from the public so far. If the density of that portion is approximately the same, and more school sites are not there, then there could be another 4,500 homes on that acreage! Total, 6,500 to 7,000 homes. If ITD is going to widen the bridges over Huetter, then design and build the interchange while widening the bridge and freeway as getting the workers in position is big portion of costs. Having that done before working on Northwest Boulevard and U.S. 95 would at least provide an alternate route closer than Highway 41!
The map provided at the meeting did not show the "under construction" SPUI (single point urban interchange) at Highway 41 and I-90, why not?
Why can’t construction on the widening of I-90 be done with TWO shifts of workers, 16 hours of construction, to Get It Done while the sun shines and in a much shorter timeframe. Given inflation, the cost of an extra shift would be somewhat offset by not having another year of increasing costs.
The timetable is quite long and Ramsey Road at the freeway is a problem now with the intersection of Appleway and Ramsey often blocked by drivers neglecting to note that the cars on Ramsey south of Appleway are not moving and entering the intersection to discover they are frozen there, blocking traffic when the light changes. For a reasonably small sum of money (by government standards) the sidewalk along the west side of Ramsey from Appleway to the westbound on-ramp, could be relocated west to be on the "other side" of the signal (yes a small retaining wall would be needed but with 4 feet of extra width a “right turn only” lane could be added allowing through traffic (southbound on Ramsey/Northwest) to not impede traffic turning onto the freeway. Yes, it would be "wasted" money for the few (?) years it would only be used (the SPUI would eliminate it) but it could be done very quickly and would be immediately effective.
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Howard Burns is a Post Falls resident.