9/8/2011
Reed Hollinshead
ITD Communication
208-334-8881
reed.hollinshead@itd.idaho.gov
Concrete median barriers to be installed in slip-ramp project area in Caldwell starting Sept. 11
CALDWELL - Crews will begin installing about 1,600 feet of median concrete guardrail on Interstate 84 on Sunday night (Sept. 11) just east of a slip-ramp project begun earlier this summer on the westbound freeway in Caldwell. The work is expected to take several weeks to complete.
Crews will work an overnight schedule, from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. Both the east- and westbound inside lanes on I-84 will be closed during the work, and inside shoulders in both directions will be closed during off hours for grading in the median.
The speed will be reduced to 45 mph during work hours and raised to 55 mph during the off hours. Flaggers will be used to guide traffic because of an uneven pavement edge.
The slip ramp - a lane that starts and ends between an on-ramp and an off-ramp - runs between 10th Street Interchange and Franklin Road Interchange. The mile-long slip ramp allows motorists to enter I-84 at Franklin, remain in the lane farthest right, and exit at 10th, never having to merge with interstate traffic. A similar auxiliary lane is expected to run eastbound on I-84 between Franklin and Garrity boulevards when that project is completed in 2012.
Since 2009, westbound travel between Nampa and Caldwell on I-84 has increased from about 14,000 in 1995 to more than 20,000 vehicles per day.