7/17/2020
Chester to Ashton Environmental Assessment (EA) Online Open House Begins July 30
ASHTON, ID – The Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) are developing an Environmental Assessment (EA) associated with roadway improvements and reconstruction of U.S. 20 between Chester and Ashton. The public is invited to attend an upcoming online open house to learn more about the project and how their previous input is reflected in the updated design.
The Chester to Ashton segment of U.S. 20 was originally built in 1932. The current roadway does not provide sufficient traffic flow or passing opportunities to accommodate growing traffic volumes. The roadway has exceeded its service life and requires improvements to the roadway and drainage features as well as new pavement. Reconstruction will provide the opportunity to include design elements for reducing potential crashes.
The project team will be taking extra health and safety precautions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, a public meeting will be held virtually. To accommodate all audiences, the virtual public meeting will be held in two formats: via an online open house video on the project website and a Facebook Live event.
On Thursday, July 30, the public will gain access to an online open house on the project website www.itdprojects.org/projects/us20-chester-to-ashton-ea/. This open house will allow the public to visit the website and view a short introduction video, display boards and project maps. There will be a designated section on the website for the public to leave their comments. The comment period will be open from Thursday, July 30 to Monday, August 31.
A Facebook Live event will be broadcast on Tuesday, August 4 from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. addressing the concerns and comments received at the online open house along with comments and call-in questions that come in during the one-hour event. This broadcast will remain on the ITD Facebook page (www.facebook.com/idahotransportationdepartment) for residents to refer to at any time.
The information from both the virtual open house and the Facebook Live event will be posted on the project website (https://itdprojects.org/projects/us20-chester-to-ashton-ea/).
FHWA is the federal lead agency for the EA. The EA is a comprehensive document being completed in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to assess the environmental impacts of ITD’s proposed improvements to U.S. 20. The EA will be made available for public review at a future date once design is further refined to address public comments received during the upcoming public meeting and environmental studies are completed.
For more information, please contact Dan Adams at 801-520-4762 or dadams@landgongroupinc.com