Road projects aplenty in Kootenai County

POST FALLS — The Kootenai Metropolitan Planning Organization's major game plan for the next six years includes a number of projects across Kootenai County.

Beginning this year, Interstate 90 will be widened to six lanes from the Idaho/Washington state line to Sherman Avenue in downtown Coeur d'Alene.

“The first segment is going to be from State Highway 41 to Northwest Boulevard or (U.S. Highway) 95-ish,” KMPO Executive Director Glenn Miles said.

Miles provided project updates during his "Transportation: Where Are We Going?" presentation Tuesday during the Post Falls Chamber of Commerce's Connect4Lunch event at the Club at Prairie Falls in Post Falls.

Completion of the I-90 interchange at Highway 41 in Post Falls is underway. The next interchange up for improvement will be at I-90 and Northwest Boulevard or I-90 and U.S. 95.

“They're doing some additional engineering analysis to see which one should be done first,” Miles said. “They’re trying to decide which one is going to be most effective.”

The Idaho Transportation Department launched the Rathdrum Prairie Transportation Study in October to examine traffic, travel and viable mobility options from I-90 north to State Highway 53 and from the Washington state line east to Government Way.

“That’s a wrap-up as we develop the Huetter corridor, that we’ve been looking at since forever,” Miles said.

Spokane Street is undergoing rehabilitation that is expected to be completed next year. Prairie Avenue from Meyer Road to Highway 41 will be widened, completion due in 2027. KMPO received funding to build a pedestrian and bicycle underpass in that area to accommodate the Prairie Trail, Miles said.

“The thought of having people crossing a five-lane arterial on bikes, strollers, just didn’t seem like the right thing to do,” he said. 

The Pleasant View Road and BNSF interchange project is expected to begin this year. After construction, three crossings over two current railroad tracks will be eliminated to enhance safety and mobility for drivers. Another BNSF project, the rail crossing at Chase Road, is in its final design phase. 

State Highway 53 widening improvements from state line to Rathdrum are continuing. Ramsey Road in Hayden will also receive work soon.

"We're going to spend $7 million this year going 1 mile from Wyoming to Lancaster, so you can actually drive on Ramsey Road all the way from I-90 to Lancaster without having to go on 95," he said.

Miles shared connected car data from April 13, 2023 that showed traffic movements throughout the county.

“If you don’t know, I’m sorry to tell you this, but as of 2014, most new cars have telemetry data that goes to the 'mothership' which would be whoever built your car or pickup — and reports about every 15 seconds on what’s going on in your car," he said. 

The data collection was required by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration so it could better research enhance vehicle safety, Miles said. It shows where drivers are going, if somebody hits the brakes too hard and if a car goes left or right, not who is in the car or who is driving what. KMPO has the information for travel data to give the organization the ability to see where people started and where people went in one day.

He said the organization anticipated the county's population would be 176,000 people in 2020.

"We were off — it was 178,000, and we did this seven years before, so we thought it was pretty good," he said.

He said what was not anticipated after 2020 was 7,000-8,000 people moving into the county every year, so now it is anticipated the area will have about 307,000 people by 2045. The city of Post Falls had a population of 7,249 in 1990. In 2020, that number had increased to 38,485.

“Our transportation system was not and is not as responsive to growth as maybe some other aspects of the community,” Miles said.

He said he gets asked if transportation system development drives growth, or if growth drives transportation system development. He said he is often asked if water and sewer infrastructure investments drive growth, if fire stations, schools and recreational opportunities drive growth and if the business climate and local demographics drive future growth and development.

"Yes," he said, responding to every question.

He also gave a friendly reminder that pothole season is now open.

Visit kmpo.net/transportation-improvement-program to view the 2023-2029 KMPO Transportation Improvement Program and project details.

    Cindy Jordan, president of the Post Falls Chamber's board of directors, speaks to chamber members and guests Tuesday during a luncheon at the Club at Prairie Falls.
  

    Post Falls Chamber members and guests who attended the chamber's Connect4Lunch event Tuesday review a map of building permits issued in unincorporated Kootenai County from 1990-2022. The map was part of Kootenai Metropolitan Planning Organization Executive Director Glenn Miles' transportation presentation.