Snake River View Rest Area funding, federal bridge funds and a discussion of future Highway 16 options

Possible funding for the Snake River View Rest Area, discussion of $6 million in federal funds to fix bridge decks in poor condition, and possible Highway 16 future construction options will highlight the Idaho Transportation Board’s meeting on Wednesday, February 19 at ITD Headquarters in Boise (3311 W. State Street).

Snake River Rest Area
The board will be asked to add a project to the Idaho Transportation Investment Program (ITIP) to address concerns at the Snake River Rest Area.

The gateway visitor’s center on Interstate 84 by the Oregon border has been closed since September 2019 due to sewer conditions. Staff is requesting $1.25 million for a construction project to remedy the auxiliary containment and treatment system. Both options identified to resolve the long-term sewer needs have future maintenance costs, will require purchasing land, and involve in-ground infiltration systems. Future maintenance costs will be clearer in the coming weeks and will be a factor when deciding which construction option to choose.

Federal Bridge Funds
In December 2019, a transportation appropriations act was signed by the president that contains supplemental funding for bridge replacement and rehabilitation. Nationally, $1.15 billion was apportioned. Allocation of the funds among the states is based on each state’s proportion of bridge deck in poor condition. States with less than 5% of bridge deck area classified in “poor condition” receive a minimum of $6 million. Because 4.6% of Idaho’s bridge decks are in poor condition, staff estimates the state will receive $6 million.

Staff will propose that the funds be split 50-50 with local highway jurisdictions. As of December 2019, the state system reported 487,002 square feet of bridge area in poor condition and the local system had 438,008 square feet in poor condition.

ID-16 Corridor
The department has been working on extending ID-16 from ID-44 to I-84 in District 3 for many years. The first phase, connecting Hwy -44 to US-20/26 to the south, was completed in 2014.

In 2018, the board approved $90.34 million for right-of-way preservation on the ID-16 corridor, even though no construction funds for the remaining phases had been identified.

At Wednesday’s meeting, staff will present two options for the corridor. The first option is to continue acquiring right-of-way. An additional $15-35 million will be needed to complete right-of-way preservation for the whole corridor. The other option is to reallocate the right-of-way funding to complete the design and construction of a segment of the corridor. This area of the Treasure Valley is growing rapidly and an early construction package would provide minor interim benefits to regional mobility. If the board wants to pursue the latter option, a decision will then need to be made on whether construction continues from the north end, from US-20/26, or if construction should commence on the south end, I-84.

 

Published 02-14-20