The U.S. 95 Sand Creek Byway is a 2.1-mile segment of the larger U.S. 95 north/south alternative route. The byway connects the cities of Sandpoint and Ponderay as an alternate route for U.S. 95 to reduce traffic through downtown Sandpoint. It had been a topic of local interest for more than 50 years, and several alternatives were discussed in the community. ITD faced a number of challenges based on the expectations of the community and involved regulatory agencies. To address those challenges, the URS-led design team engaged the public and agencies early in the process. An extensive public participation plan was established at the onset of the design phase.

Complex components of the project included providing interchanges at each end of the byway, threading a three-lane roadway between two water bodies (Sand Creek and Lake Pend Oreille), preserving a historic depot, and accommodating a railroad that has plans for a future double track. During the design process, the project team successfully obtained permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Idaho Department of Lands. In addition, the team completed an environmental assessment and re-evaluations that resulted in a Finding Of No Significant Impact.

The White Bird Pass Rockfall Mitigation project was developed rapidly and ahead of schedule with a total development cost of $64,000, which is only 3 percent of the total construction cost.

The project featured state-of-the-art modifications to a drape cable net system, which catches falling rocks. With input from neighboring states, ITD was able to apply the latest modifications to this system and was made aware of critical inspection criteria to use during construction.

The project also involved traffic control challenges. Since U.S. 95 is a vital north-south transportation link in Idaho, keeping commercial trucks and other vehicles moving was crucial. Project designers gathered public input regarding how the traffic control plan could keep commerce moving in a timely and efficient manner.

The completion of the project allowed maintenance staff to focus on other areas needing attention in District 2. In addition, the project received two awards in 2012 at the 37th Northwest Geotechnical Workshop in Tumwater, Wash.

This collaborative project consisted of the Idaho Transportation Department and United States Forest Service-Boise National Forest removing an existing 160-foot-long, 72-inch diameter metal culvert that restricted fish and aquatic organism passage.

The culvert also inhibited essential physical and biological stream-river interactions and habitat linkages. The purpose of the project was to restore 7.8 square miles of overall Five Mile Creek watershed habitat and 11.6 miles of stream habitat to a more natural state by re-establishing the essential physical and biological stream-river interactions.

Fish, like the native threatened and protected Bull Trout and native Redband Rainbow Trout, directly benefited from enhanced habitat connectivity and improved spawning opportunities.

The existing topography and extreme slopes of the terrain led to some difficult decisions on how to phase construction, what needed to be built, how it needed to be built and when. Half of the bridge was built at a time, allowing for traffic to continue through the area.

Hailey’s 35-year-old Woodside Boulevard is the second-busiest street in town. The City of Hailey was awarded a $3.5 million TIGER II grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to make improvements to this 2.5-mile collector.

The Langdon Group used a public involvement strategy that relied heavily on personal interactions, large-scale citizen meetings, video simulations for a proposed roundabout, and email updates to gather public comments and keep stakeholders in the communication loop. These methods helped identify issues and gauge public sentiment regarding the project. This process also provided the engineering team with critical feedback for making design changes in response to community concerns and individual property circumstances.

When complications arose, The Langdon Group and city staff worked through those by increasing communications with stakeholders. Email served as a valuable tool for providing ongoing, timely updates. Door-to-door visits helped address property owner issues on-site. Bilingual information broadened the reach to Spanish-speaking residents.

Project Description: State Highway 75 provides the main route from Ketchum to Challis through Stanley in central Idaho, and is a major recreational access for the Sawtooth National Recreational Area and Challis National Forest. The project consisted of re-establishing the roadway shoulder and stabilizing the adjacent river bank along the Salmon River.

Erosion was causing structural damage to the highway and, when coupled with erosion of the river bank by the Salmon River, continued to constrict the roadway. This posed a safety hazard to drivers using State Highway 75.

During construction, crews used rock hoppers to reduce impacts to drivers and prevent any future damage to the roadway. However, damage to the road surface did occur and an asphalt plant mix overlay of the road was completed by ITD Maintenance to repair the damage. The highway shoulder repair project was a success with the addition of four to six feet of shoulder with minimal encroachment on the river channel.

Since the completion of the project, no vehicle crashes have occurred in the area. The project improved safety with a better shoulder while causing minimal impact to the Salmon River and minimal delays to traffic.

U.S. 95 is the only north/south highway in the 100-mile corridor between western Montana and eastern Washington and the only highway that connects northern and southern Idaho. It is the major connection between the United States and Canada in the region. The old highway alignment entered Sandpoint and merged with U.S. 2 on a one-way grid system through the Central Business District. Over 18% of the highway traffic is heavy trucks and congestion and delays were common throughout downtown Sandpoint, causing safety issues for motorists and pedestrians alike.

The U.S. 95 Sand Creek Byway is a 2.1-mile segment of the larger U.S. 95 North/South Alternative Route. The byway connects the cities of Sandpoint and Ponderay, as an alternate route for U.S. 95 to reduce traffic through downtown. It has been a topic of local interest for more than 50 years and several alternatives have been discussed in the community.

Almost one mile of the byway alignment is set on mechanically stabilized earth walls. These walls were built in stages to accommodate the settlement of native clay soils.

he Ada County Highway District (ACHD), City of Kuna and Kittelson & Associates, Inc. worked together to develop the Kuna Downtown Corridor Plan. This multimodal plan identifies how residents and visitors get to, through, and around the downtown using all modes of travel.

The downtown area consists of a transportation network that includes two bridge crossings over Indian Creek, two at-grade railroad crossings, several skewed intersections, and a limited bicycle and pedestrian network.

Given the importance of the downtown to the community, it was essential that a broad and effective public involvement campaign be implemented.

The public involvement campaign led to the development and adoption of a community-driven, technically sound plan for downtown Kuna. Tools included interactive online surveys that were used to solicit input on existing pedestrian and bicycle patterns/facilities and to gauge public opinion on the corridor and streetscape concepts for further evaluation. In addition, a concept evaluation workbook was used to create a customized workbook for participants to review,
evaluate and score various alternatives.