9/30/2010
Reed Hollinshead
ITD Communication
208-334-8881
reed.hollinshead@itd.idaho.gov
ITD taking ownership of Buhl-Wendell highway
SHOSHONE - Years of negotiating and cooperation to extend a
state highway was completed with a unanimous vote of the Idaho Transportation
Board during its regular meeting on Sept. 15 to secure nearly 15 miles of road
between Wendell and Buhl.
The vote completed an agreement to immediately transfer the
roadway and extend Idaho 46, the Idaho Transportation Department announced.
Access ITD's Facebook page here for a map of the extension.
The transfer of 14.75 miles of roadway will connect Idaho 46 from Interstate 84
in Wendell to U.S. 30 in Buhl. Idaho 46 already extends 43 miles north from
Wendell, through Gooding, and terminates at U.S. 20 east of Fairfield.
"This agreement and road transfer has been years in the making,"
District Engineer Devin Rigby said. "The road between Wendell and Buhl has
always been an important corridor for commerce and travel and will continue to
serve as a vital link across the Snake River."
The transfer of the roadway was first established in 1997 when ITD agreed to
take ownership of the road. The agreement stipulated that the local highway
jurisdictions were to secure a wider section of highway right-of-way before the
transfer was enacted.
The three highway districts involved with the agreement - Buhl Highway
District, Wendell Highway District and West Point Highway District - reported
to the Idaho Transportation Board in 2009 that the 70-feet of right-of-way had
been secured and each wished to proceed with the agreement. In the past year,
ITD and the local highway districts finalized the agreements and a
recommendation to accept the road was given to the full transportation board.
Duties of winter maintenance and snow plowing by ITD maintenance forces will
begin this year. Improvements to safety features and signage will begin in
2011. Planning major roadway improvement projects and securing funding for
those projects have yet to be determined.
"Bringing the entire roadway up to a state standard will take years,"
Rigby said. "We will begin with small, critical safety projects and begin
planning for major upgrades if funding becomes available in the years to
come."
Two sections of the highway were reconstructed over the last two decades - the
Clear Lake Grade project in 1995 and a one-mile section of the Rex Leland
Highway south of Wendell in 2009.