Rural highway improvements, Northgate funding, ITD-owned dwellings highlight February meeting of Idaho Transportation Board          

Approval of local rural highway improvements, change in funding status on the Northgate Interchange, and discussion of department-owned dwellings highlighted during Feb. 21 Idaho Transportation Board meeting in Boise.

Department-owned dwellings
The annual report on department-owned dwellings was presented to the board at its Feb. 21 meeting in Boise.

The department owns three stick-framed houses, 13 manufactured homes, five bunkhouses, and two apartments at Johnson Creek and Cavanaugh Bay airstrips, plus 19 trailer pads, of which 11 have employee-owned manufactured housing on them. ITD also owns nine trailer pads and three houses at rest area locations.

ITD provides or rents state-owned dwellings to employees in situations where the best interests of the department are served. There are locations where employees reside in a state-owned dwelling as a condition of employment. Examples of these locations are Powell, Lowman, Riddle, and the Johnson Creek Airstrip.

I-15 Northgate Interchange
District 5 has been working with several partners on the construction of a new I-15 interchange in the Pocatello-Chubbuck area. The two cities are extending their local roads to tie in with the new interchange.

A recent study determined that the roundabout interchange concept initially planned would not be feasible due to traffic conflicts at the northbound off-ramp, made worse by a large residential/commercial development now in the zoning process. The new design, a signalized standard diamond interchange, increases the construction cost by more than $4 million.

The board approved delaying ITD’s I-15, Yellowstone and Alameda project from FY19 to FY22 and removing the local Intersection Quinn/Hawthorne project from the Idaho Transportation Investment Program to fund the additional construction costs.

Local Rural Highway Improvement Program (LRHIP)
The annual LRHIP report was also presented to the board. The program’s goal is to provide funding to rural local highway jurisdictions for construction and planning.

Per Board policy, Surface Transportation Program – Rural funds may be exchanged for State Highway Funds at a rate of $0.616 per $1 and in an amount not to exceed $2.8 million annually.

Funds are available to cities with less than 5,000 population, county road and bridge departments, and highway districts that collect local taxes or have alternative funding mechanisms for highways and bridges. Funds cannot be used for wages, equipment, or consultant use on construction projects.

The program continues to be very popular, as 86 applications requesting $6.19 million were submitted in FY17. The $2.8 million funded 17 construction projects, both of the federal-aid match requests, seven transportation plans, nine sign projects, and four emergency projects.

Published 03-02-18