7/25/2013
Public meeting held to present final design of new Meridian Interchange
MERIDIAN – The Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) held a public open house on Wednesday evening (July 24) to present design plans and gather comments on the new Meridian Road Interchange.
Comments ranged from what driving on the interchange will be like during the winter months to managing the area's traffic growth.
Don Johnson, who lives south of Interstate 84, said a new interchange is something he's been advocating for some time.
"I was on the Treasure Valley Sounding Board in the 90's," Johnson said. "We talked about this back then. Look at the projected traffic. We've got to keep ahead of that."
David and Marsha Dodge, who live about three quarters of a mile away from the current interchange, are hopeful winter driving conditions will improve after the new interchange is built.
"When winter comes, I've seen slide-offs on the eastbound on-ramp," David Dodge said. "I've seen many cars in the ditch."
Marsha Dodge said she doesn't think there is enough space when making turns from the westbound off-ramp.
"When you are westbound and turning to go south on Meridian Road, it's tight making that turn," she said. "I'm glad to see that's going to be going away."
Over the next two weeks, an online public meeting – which includes all materials and information from the open house – will be available on the project website. ITD’s project managers are hosting two live online chat sessions where participants will have the opportunity to ask questions. The first online chat session was held Thursday, July 25. The second will be Tuesday, July 30 from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. To participate in the online meeting and sign-up for the online chat session, go to: www.itd.idaho.gov/Projects/Garvee/D3/I84_Caldwell_Meridian_Corridor/OnlineMeeting/.
ITD is replacing the current Meridian Road Interchange with a Single-Point Urban Interchange (SPUI). The SPUI design uses one signal in the middle of the interchange for efficient traffic flow.
As part of the project, ITD will add curb, gutter, sidewalks and bicycle lanes on Meridian Road. I-84 will be widened to four lanes in both directions under the interchange.
The $40 million project is funded through savings in the GARVEE Transportation Program, as well as traditional federal funds.
ITD also is replacing the interchanges at Broadway Avenue and Gowen Road and adding a third lane on I-84 between Broadway and Gowen. Construction is anticipated to begin in winter/spring 2014 on all three interchanges.
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News directors, editors: For video footage and still photos of Wednesday's public meeting, please visit the transportation department's FTP site at: ftp1.idaho.gov. In the User Name field, enter itdcommu. The password is W39gy7D2. The file is titled MERIDIAN IC.