7/18/2011
Reed Hollinshead
ITD Communication
208-334-8881
reed.hollinshead@itd.idaho.gov
UPDATE: I-84 repair near Stage Stop under way
BOISE - A project to correct severe pavement deficiencies on Interstate
84's eastbound lanes between Boise and Mountain Home began today (Monday, July 18), and will finish in early December, the Idaho Transportation Department announced. Initially, traffic impacts will be minimal.
The project begins
near milepost 70 (the Stage Stop and Mayfield Road Interchange) and
extends east of the Simco Road Interchange to milepost 80.2.
Initially, crews will lower the speed limit in the area to 45 mph when workers are present as a series of crossovers are prepared for traffic. The lane closure will be removed after the evening work each day and the speed limit will be restored to 75 mph.
In late August, eastbound traffic will be shifted and will share the westbound travel lanes during the work in an opposing one-lane configuration. The ramps at exits 71 (Stage Stop) and 74 (Simco Road) also will be repaired. The speed limit will be reduced to 35 mph for ramp traffic.
That stretch
of I-84 was constructed in 1959. The road received an overlay in 1961,
another overlay in 1989, and seal coats in 1986 and 2002. ITD
maintenance crews did some blade patching (a maintenance technique for
repairing an asphalt surface) last fall to extend the roadway use until a
more permanent fix could be applied in this project.
Signs were installed last fall asking truck drivers to move left to preserve the pavement in the right lanes.
The
top two inches of the existing pavement will be removed and 10 inches of
concrete will be placed as the new travel surface. The eastbound on-
and off-ramps at the Mayfield and Simco interchanges also will be resurfaced.
In the early stages of construction, intermittent lane closures might be required but not at night or for extended periods.
Crews have adopted an aggressive schedule, and will work Mondays through Saturdays.
Concrete Placing Co., of Boise, is the contractor on this $10.4 million project.