6/7/2016
Reed Hollinshead
ITD Communication
208-334-8881
reed.hollinshead@itd.idaho.gov
Replacement of Idaho 97 Wolf Lodge Interchange/I-90 Overpass Bridge starts June 13, funded by general fund surplus revenue
COEUR d'ALENE - A project to replace the Wolf Lodge Interchange on Idaho 97/Interstate 90 Overpass Bridge at Exit 22 east of Coeur d’Alene is expected to begin Monday (June 13). The project is expected to take approximately six months to complete.
This $4.7 million project is funded by surplus in the general fund.
The project will reconstruct and realign the approaches to the bridge, and make various improvements to the interchange area. The interchange will be longer and wider (210 feet long, 14 feet wide). The project will also include ramp modifications, drainage improvements and the addition of overhead lighting.
This will improve safety and increase vertical clearance over the outside shoulder of eastbound I-90, allowing larger trucks to travel on the interstate. The current interchange has many deficiencies, including excessive spalls (small chips) and cracks, exposed areas throughout structural components, and a substandard vertical clearance. The clearance will increase from 15’-8” to 17’-3.”
Drivers can expect minor speed reductions, two-way, two-lane movements on Idaho 97 from milepost 96.2 to 96.4, and single-lane closures in both directions of the four-lane interstate.
This is a Design/Bid/Build project, which will reduce construction time and limit impact to the approximately 1,740 vehicles per day that travel over the interchange.
The primary partners/stakeholders in this project are the city of Coeur d'Alene, the city of Harrison, the city of St. Maries, Kootenai County, Benewah County, and the Coeur d’Alene Tribe.
Concrete Placing Co. Inc., from Boise, is the prime contractor on this project.
The Idaho Transportation Board selected road and bridge projects across Idaho in December 2015 for maintenance and repair work. The projects are all funded by the $54.1 million in general fund surplus provided by the Idaho Legislature last year. 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 condition and right-of-way purchases.