4/25/2016
Reed Hollinshead
ITD Communication
208-334-8881
reed.hollinshead@itd.idaho.gov
All work ready to begin just months after General Fund surplus approved for projects
BOISE - Less than three months after the Idaho Legislature approved the use of surplus from the General Fund, all 17 critical-need transportation projects funded by the program are under contract and many will begin soon.
The first of these, critical safety improvements to eight bridges on U.S. 20 in eastern Idaho, are slated to begin today (Monday, April 25).
This is the second time in less than a year the agency has immediately put new revenue to work maintaining and repairing the state’s roads and bridges, after the 2015 Idaho Legislature increased transportation revenue to address Idaho’s aging infrastructure. Last summer, ITD began construction on 27 additional projects just months after passage of the legislation.
“These projects will go directly to improving safety and increasing mobility for drivers across Idaho. When we focus on your mobility, we reduce traffic congestion and put this new revenue to work on the projects that provide the biggest economic bang for the buck,” said ITD Director Brian Ness. “Since we've advanced these projects, it allows us to move up other critically needed road and bridge projects in the five-year planning process.”
“These projects will result in immediate improvements in safety and increase mobility for drivers across Idaho,” said Idaho Transportation Board Chairman Jerry Whitehead. “The projects will also enhance economic opportunity by creating jobs and getting more goods and services to market, increase tourism and improve recreational opportunities.”
The Idaho Transportation Board selected road and bridge projects in December 2015 for maintenance and repair work as part of the department’s Strategic Initiatives Program (SIP) authorized by the recent Idaho Legislature. Selections came from a pool of projects based on analysis of each project’s return on investment in the areas of safety, mobility, economic opportunity, bridge repair and maintenance, and right-of-way purchases.
ITD’s new revenue website, featuring the 17 new General Fund surplus projects totaling $54.1 million, is here: http://itd.idaho.gov/revenue/surplus.html