Transportation board visits District 2 during late March meeting
The Idaho Transportation Board visited District 2 March 23-24, focusing initially on Idaho County and the Idaho 14 landslide west of Elk City. Reports were also heard on the 129,000-pound truck routes, highway safety initiatives, and other district issues
A partnership with the U.S. Forest Service and Nez Perce Tribe allows the culverts and pipes along Idaho 14 and the South Fork of the Clearwater River to be studied. Thanks to funding from the Bonneville Power Administration, the first culvert, at Legget Creek, will be replaced this summer. Ten of these locations were identified as hindering fish passage.
Other stops along the way included a tour of the landslide (pictured right) and lunch in Kooskia where the mayor thanked the board for funding several improvements in the community. The board also took advantage of opportunities to view commercial vehicles and talk to truck drivers.
District 2 report
At the board meeting March 24 in Grangeville, District Engineer Dave Kuisti provided an annual report on some district activities. An organizational change combined the project development and contract administration functions, and technicians from Traffic, Bridge, Building and Vegetation were reassigned to area foremen, eliminating specialized functions.
All projects except two were delivered on time. One of those, the U.S. 95 Thorncreek to Moscow project, recently received a signed Record of Decision from FHWA. Staff will design the project in-house. The design and right-of-way work should take about 18 months to complete, with the project ready to advertise in fall 2017.
Two 2015 construction projects received awards: the Lewiston Hill reconstruction won the National Asphalt Paving Association Award and the Spalding Bridge Scour Mitigation project received the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials’ Presiden'st Award and Excellence in Transportation Award.
Some of the district’s goals are to continue achieving the winter-maintenance metrics while reducing costs, promote culture change, and pursue new innovations, particularly related to slide mitigation.
Highway Safety presentation
Highway Safety Manager John Tomlinson and Idaho State Police Sergeant Richard Adamson reported on highway-safety activities underway now, and those planned for the near future.
A distracted-driving initiative for high school students with ITD’s partners is just finishing. The city of Meridian recently held an event with a focus on distracted driving for its youth. There are also two ongoing research projects related to distracted driving.
Idaho State Police is planning some highway-safety events geared to high school seniorsin District 2 prior to graduation in May. There will be mock crash scenes and special speakers, including family members who have lost loved ones due to car crashes. ISP also will be actively engaged in the statewide “100 Deadly Days of Summer” campaign that commences Memorial Day Weekend.
129,000-Pound Truck Route request: Idaho 13
At a meeting earlier this year, the board subcommittee on 129,000-Pound Truck Routes voted 2-2 to recommend that the full board approve the request to designate Idaho 13 as a designated route. Although the motion failed because of the tie, that action did not kill the request.
On March 23, the subcommittee re-visited the Idaho 13 route request.
Although the subcommittee passed a motion to recommend that the board proceed to a formal hearing, due to other considerations, the board approved a motion to hold the Idaho 13 route request and other route requests in abeyance until the negotiated rule-making on 129,000-pound trucks has been completed. Negotiated rulemaking will commence soon as a result of recent legislation allowing 129,000-pound vehicles on Idaho’s federal interstate system.
Published 04-01-16