11/6/2006
ITD, Idaho Falls to dedicate new Sunnyside Interchange Thursday
RIGBY - The Sunnyside Interchange and new Snake River Bridge, which together constitute one of the largest improvements to Idaho's Interstate 15 since it was finished in 1962, will be dedicated Thursday morning near milepost 116, announced the Idaho Transportation Department.
Citizens will assemble on the new five-lane bridge for the 11 a.m. ceremony that incorporates a veteran's theme and color guard. Scheduled just two days before the celebration of Veterans Day, the dedication also acknowledges the formal I-15 designation, dating to the 1980s, as Veterans Memorial Highway.
Thursday's ceremony will include remarks by Idaho Transportation Board Vice-chairman John X. Combo, Idaho Lt. Gov. Mark Ricks and Idaho Falls Mayor Jared Fuhriman, along with the national anthem performed by a Skyline High School brass quartet and a flag display from The Title of Liberty in Idaho Falls.
The interchange, bridge and connecting highway will provide motorists a new southern route into the city and direct access from the interstate to shopping centers and medical services.
The dedication is one of three events scheduled this fall that collectively represent a significant commitment to Idaho's interstate system; two other celebrations are planned for interchanges in Nampa and Caldwell.
"These celebrations acknowledge the economic benefits our interstate investments bring to Idaho communities," said ITD Interim Director Dwight Bower.
"They also represent our ongoing commitment to improve the state's transportation system and safety for travelers. Escalating construction costs and rising inflation continue to challenge us as we try to address growing demands on our system."
Design and right-of-way acquisition and construction brought the total project investment to more than $38 million.
Idaho Construction Co. of Kimberly began work on the interchange July 6, 2004. Its $21.4 million construction contract included:
- An interchange at milepost 116 on I-15 near the southern city limits of Idaho Falls
- A new five-lane, 725-foot long Snake River Bridge
- Sidewalks on both sides of the bridge and a pedestrian path that crosses beneath the bridge
- A 1.5-mile connecting highway that links the interchange with Yellowstone Avenue
- A new intersection at Sunnyside and Yellowstone and a new traffic signal at the intersection
- 57.2 miles of four-lane divided, controlled access interstate, consisting of 19 separate projects
- 12 overpasses
- 23 underpasses
- 30 bridges
- Four railroad overpasses, and
- One railroad underpass
Idaho Gov. Robert E. Smylie was the featured speaker at the I-15 dedication on Oct. 31, 1962. "Completion marks the opening of Idaho's first two-city freeway," he said.
"Let this sleek highway we are dedicating today stand as mute testimony to the far-flung program of progress we have pledged for ourselves, our children and our sovereign state."
He noted that the old route between Pocatello and Idaho Falls was marred by 163 traffic crashes in 1960 and 169 the following year, claiming six lives and injuring 91 persons in 1961. "The property damage totals have also been figured out, but there is no measurement for human tragedy.
"... accident rates can be reduced as much as 50 percent on modern, four-lane roads while our factory workers, farmers and college students will be getting to their destinations in almost half the time it has taken in previous years."
History shows the late governor's prophecy to be partially correct.
In 2005, only four fatalities were recorded on I-15 between Pocatello and Idaho Falls, resulting from 250 crashes. Considering the unexpected growth in traffic volume, however, Gov. Smylie's prediction of safer travel, indeed, was achieved.
The average traffic count in 2005 for I-15 near the new interchange is approximately 18,500 vehicles per day -- about three times the number of vehicles (6,350) that traveled U.S. 91/26 south of Idaho Falls during the first year of construction on I-15.
Design consultant Parsons Brinkerhoff began preliminary engineering in 1999, explained Wade Allen, ITD's project engineer.
Although the project is complete, ITD will administer a companion project, tentatively scheduled to begin next year, that will expand a two-lane section of Sunnyside to five lanes from the newly constructed Sunnyside/Yellowstone intersection to Holmes Avenue.
The project, which is not part of the state highway system, is sponsored by the city of Idaho Falls and will be administered by ITD using federal funds. When completed, Sunnyside Road will be five lanes from the interchange to Ammon.
The public is invited to Thursday morning's interchange dedication and ribbon cutting.