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Idaho Transportation Board to visit eastern Idaho in May meeting,
discussion of project additions planned

The Idaho Transportation Board will tour eastern Idaho highways and cities during the upcoming board meeting, May 20-21. The meeting includes visiting the Geotourism Center in Driggs, discussing National Summer Transportation Institute projects aiding disadvantaged college students, extending the Snake River Canyon Scenic Byway, and adding a project that funds bicycle counters for safety.

District tour
The board is combining the district 5 and 6 tours this year.

On Wednesday, May 20, the board will travel Interstate 15 from Malad City to Idaho Falls. It will then travel on state highways to Driggs and back to Idaho Falls. In Driggs, the board will visit the Geotourism Center, allowing travelers to experience an area’s culture, heritage, food, art, geology and music. The Center introduces visitors to the Teton Scenic Byway region and provides assistance with planning trips and navigating. Some of the activities the area offers include hiking, fishing, viewing wildlife, camping, horseback riding and ballooning.

The tour will end in Pocatello.

National Summer Transportation Institute projects
At its business meeting May 21, the board will be asked to add National Summer Transportation Institute (NSTI) projects to the FY15 Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP).

ITD received a discretionary grant for Idaho State University in Pocatello and Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa. The funds will be used for summer camps with hands-on activities to motivate and educate at-risk students in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) with an emphasis on transportation. The camps will encourage students to consider transportation-related careers and provide awareness about transportation careers.

NNU would receive $42,000. ISU’s funding would be $33,000, targeting students from the Bannock-Shoshone Tribe and other minority, female and disadvantaged students. Both institutions have received NSTI support the past two years.

Planning, bicycle, and pedestrian counters
The board will also be asked to add a Community Planning Association of Southwest Idaho (COMPASS) project to the STIP.

The Federal Highway Administration has awarded COMPASS Technology Deployment funds in the amount of $15,000. COMPASS will provide a 20-percent match and use the money to fund three automated bicycle counters, enabling COMPASS to receive bicycle data at dangerous locations. The counters will provide quantitative data to plan alternative solutions to unsafe roadway conditions that may include revising posted automobile speeds, adding bike lanes and signage, and identifying parallel routes.

Snake River Canyon Scenic Byway extension
The Snake River Canyon Scenic Byway Board of Directors is requesting extending the byway from its northerly terminus near Nyssa, Ore. The new route would travel on U.S. 20/26 and then north on U.S. 95 into Payette County. The route would continue on local roads and U.S. 95 to Payette, where it would connect with the Lower Payette River Scenic Byway at the junction of U.S. 95 and Idaho 52.

If the board approves this request, four scenic byways will be connected, forming a loop around the Treasure Valley. Proponents believe this expansion will promote economic development.