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The Chubbuck Road Interchange reconstruction project earned ITD another prestigious national award. Pictured with the award are (l to r) ITD Division of Engineering Services Administrator Blake Rindlisbacher, ITD Board Member Julie DeLorenzo, AASHTO Executive Director Bud Wright, ITD Director Brian Ness, ITD Chief Operations Officer Jim Carpenter and AASHTO President Mike Hancock.

Chubbuck Interchange project in southeast Idaho awarded
for "Under Budget" design, construction

The Chubbuck Road Interchange reconstruction, the state's first Diverging Diamond Interchange design, was named western regional winner of the America's Transportation Award in the "Under Budget, Small Project" category at the Western Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials 2014 conference in Albuquerque, N.M. WASHTO represents the 15 western states.

The interchange was completed on a highly compressed time schedule in nine months and was $2.1 million under the programmed amount.

"Idaho is honored to receive the transportation award in the Under Budget, Small Project category," said Idaho Transportation Department Director Brian Ness. "Good things like this happen when you hire good employees and then get out of the way so they can unleash their creativity and ingenuity."

The Chubbuck interchange is located at the crossing of Interstate 84 and U.S. 91 in southeast Idaho — the Yellowstone Highway. The original interchange could not accommodate oversized shipments from several major businesses in the popular shopping and dining area.

With the original interchange at the end of its service life, ITD designed a unique new interchange to accommodate these massive, oversized loads. The interchange also provides significant economic benefits to the city of Chubbuck and local businesses, and will accommodate higher volumes of traffic in the future. The facility improves the quality of life for local residents by providing wide bicycle and pedestrian paths with signalized crossings and pedestrian-actuated, rapid-flashing beacons to warn drivers of pedestrian presence.

Fast-tracked construction began in March 2013, and was completed in November 2013, at a total construction cost of $10.8 million.