SH 41/I-90 Interchange construction to begin in March

POST FALLS — Construction on the State Highway 41 and Interstate 90 Interchange saw "good progress over the winter” due to the relatively fair conditions, said Post Falls city engineer Rob Palus.

Starting Monday, the ITD will close the I-90/SH-41 westbound off-ramp to construct the new off-ramp. The closure will continue to September.

"Coming from Coeur d’Alene to Post Falls, heading north toward Rathdrum will be the most affected by the rerouting for construction,” Palus said. 

The rerouting process will incorporate a temporary on-ramp from SH 41 to I-90 which is expected to save about 23 days of construction.

Portable message boards from ITD will display detour information to help drivers navigate the detour.

Palus said ITD has managed to accomplish a lot of work with “very minimal closures.”  

“There’s not many other ways to build an interchange like that without at some point closing an off-ramp,” Palus said.  

To complete the project, the intersection on the north side will be dug out and then contractors will rebuild it as a full concrete intersection.  

In September, ITD will be transfer traffic into the new alignment and then remove the old state Highway 41 and start to fill in the hole or depression where the bridges used to be for 41 to go underneath the freeway.  

The main detour will send drivers to Seltice Way and bring them back to Highway 41 using the eastbound highway I-90 temporary signals.  

“We do anticipate that most of these people will utilize this detour route,” Palus said. 

Traffic is also anticipated to utilize Idaho Street and place additional burden on roadways at Mullen, Poleline and Prairie.  

ITD is going to work with city staff to coordinate the signal timing at Idaho and Seltice, Idaho and Mullan, Palus said.