10/4/2013
Reed Hollinshead
ITD Communication
208-334-8881
reed.hollinshead@itd.idaho.gov
Shoulder work on Idaho 16 under way to reduce roadside fires
EMMETT - Work began Monday (Sept. 30) on a highway shoulder project along a four-mile stretch of Idaho 16 to combat roadside fires, the Idaho Transportation Department announced. The work, from approximately Chaparral Road to Old Freeze Out/Jackass Gulch Road, is expected to continue through mid-November.
The speed limit will be reduced to 55 mph in the work area. Crews will work a Monday-Friday schedule from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Weekend work is not anticipated, but is not prohibited.
Uncontrolled fires have increasingly been a problem along Idaho 16, with large and costly fires developing quickly and often.
This is a Bureau of Land Management (BLM)-funded project to lessen the flammability of the roadside along certain portions of Idaho 16 by placing a 3-inch thick by 8-foot wide layer of gravel along the edge of the roadway on the shoulder.
The BLM has completed this type of work in other locations in the past with good results.