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Board will consider adding projects to STIP at monthly meeting

The transportation board will discuss adding projects to the Statewide Transportation Improvement Plan, hear an IPLAN update, and consider a curve-flattening project on U.S. 95 and strategies for expediting project delivery during its monthly meeting Wednesday at Headquarters.

Federal Lands Access Program
The Federal Lands Access Program (FLAP) is a federal discretionary program. The funds are to be used on roads that provide access to federal lands. A match is required. Local public agencies are eligible to receive funding. Federal Highway Administration Direct Federal, ITD, and the Local Highway Technical Assistance Council provide oversight. The projects selected by the Tri-Agency have to be mirrored in Idaho's STIP.

The group identified seven projects that the board will be asked to include in the Idaho Transportation Improvement Program. Close to $3 million are programmed in 2014 and 2015 for Bogus Basin Road. The improvements would reduce the probability and severity of run-off-the-road crashes and lower long-term maintenance costs on the route. A Salmon Area Trail Feasibility Study would analyze the feasibility of a bicycle/pedestrian set of pathways in the vicinity of the city of Salmon that would provide access to surrounding federal lands. Approximately $2.4 million would be expended in 2014 and 2015 for that project.

Some of the other recommended projects include mitigating rockfall on the Ketchum-Challis Highway (Idaho 75), replacing a bridge on Williams Creek Road in Lemhi County, and reconstructing Goose Lake Road in Adams County.

IPLAN Update
Staff will provide an update on IPLAN. The presentation will include an overview on the publically-available statewide data with emphasis on data owners and preferred update frequency. It will also focus on the remaining Geographic Information System infrastructure and services needed to allow IPLAN to be sustainable.

Some of the next steps will be to maintain current statewide maps, provide support to the districts, and continue partnerships with outside agencies. Staff intends to provide quarterly updates to the board on this initiative.

U.S. 95 Curve Flattening Project
Staff will request the addition of a new District 3 project in the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program.

The proposal will address alignment issues that restrict the size of trucks that can safely navigate U.S. 95. A rehabilitation project also will widen the highway to address the off-tracking issues along two miles of U.S. 95 in Adams County. The request is to add this curve-flattening project to FY16 for $1,876,000. The district is able to fund the project with savings realized on two other projects.

Expediting Project Delivery
The department was recently awarded a $250,000 Strategic Highway Research Program 2 grant. The funds will be used for the Expediting Project Delivery project to develop and deploy the databases, extract/transfer/load processes and user interface software to complete the integration between the Investment Corridor Analysis Planning Systems (ICAPS) and the Project Scheduling System (PSS).

The two specific Expediting Project Delivery strategies to be addressed are improved internal communication and coordination along with streamlining decision making. By linking the two systems, ICAPS and PSS, it will help reduce the time necessary to ensure a STIP project aligns with current department strategic goals.

If the board concurs, the project will be added to the FY14 program.