3/23/2010
Eagle Road resurfacing to begin in early summer; raised medians to be added from Franklin to Fairview
BOISE
- A pavement rehabilitation project on Eagle Road (Idaho 55), from the
eastbound ramps of I-84 to Fairview Avenue is expected to begin early this
summer. Included in the construction will be the installation of raised medians
from Franklin north to Fairview, which will restrict turns at:
Lanark Street, Presidential Drive,
Florence Drive:
-
Prohibited: Left turns out
-
Allowed: Right turns in & right turns out, left turns in
Commercial Street and all other
approaches except Pine Avenue (which remains unchanged):
-
Prohibited: Left turns in & left turns out
-
Allowed: Right turns in & right turns out
Local law enforcement, the city of
Meridian and ITD support the use of medians to control access and as a safety
enhancement measure along this corridor. From Franklin north to Fairview, there
have been 586 reported crashes in the last five years, resulting in 356
injuries and two fatalities.
The medians also will emphasize the nature of Eagle Road as a State Highway
intended as a mobility corridor rather than a local street.
Once
under way, the project should take about two months to complete. Traffic
control will consist of overnight (8 p.m. to 6 a.m.) lane closures, traffic
shifts and restrictions. Two lanes each way with turn
bays will be maintained at all other times.
In this project, the top few inches of pavement will be milled off
the surface and replaced. No work on the interchange bridge itself will take
place, but the pavement rehabilitation will extend about 250 feet south of the
eastbound ramps.
ITD
initiated the Eagle Road Arterial Study in 2003. Local municipalities, ACHD,
the Community Action Partnership of Southwest Idaho, homeowners associations
and ValleyRide were all involved in the initial study. This project is largely
a result of those initial meetings, and reflects a need to increase safety and
desire to manage traffic more efficiently.
Currently,
39,000 to 48,000 vehicles travel between I-84 and Fairview Avenue on Eagle Road
each day. In addition, the total number of vehicles on all the Eagle
Interchange ramps each day is about 53,000.
Central
Paving Co. Inc. of Boise is the contractor on the $1.35 million project.