$19M federal grant for Aht’Wy Interchange,
review of 80-mph speed limit and economic
emergency permits highlight
upcoming Idaho Transportation Board meeting

Discussion of the $19 million grant for the Aht’Wy Interchange project, annual review of the 80-mph speed limit increase, and review of economic emergency permits will be highlighted during the October 15 Idaho Transportation Board meeting in Coeur d’Alene.

The meeting will start at 9:30 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time.

To listen to the meeting:
Dial 415-655-0003 US Toll
Meeting number (access code): 133 541 7459
meeting password: 1234

US-95/US-12 Aht’Wy Interchange and Plaza Project
ITD and the Nez Perce Tribe have been working on solutions to address safety concerns at the entrance to the casino and facilities along US-95/US-12 near Lewiston for many years. The Nez Perce Tribe was recently awarded a federal grant to construct an interchange and remove the at-grade crossing. Eliminating the difficult left turns at the location will greatly improve safety and will also reduce delays on the system.

The federal grant is $19,134,710. The Tribe will provide the required match of $1,007,090. After the structure is complete, ITD will assume ownership and maintain it.

The board will be asked to approve adding this project to FY21 of the Idaho Transportation Improvement Program.

80 mph speed zones
Upon legislation enacted in 2014, the department increased the speed limit from 75 mph to 80 mph on rural sections of I-15, I-84, and I-86. As part of this initiative, the board requested annual updates on staff’s observations of this change.

The 2020 report indicates that the 85th percentile speed is 83 mph, which has remained basically the same since the speed limit was increased to 80 mph in 2014. The before-and-after differential speeds between light and heavy vehicles has also remained relatively unchanged, with a differential speed of 11 mph average today compared to a 10 mph differential when the speed limit was 75 mph. The fatal and serious-injury crash rates have also remained relatively constant, with one and five fatal and serious-injury crashes per 100 million vehicle-miles of travel. This matches the crash rate prior to raising the speed limit to 80 mph.

In summary, the observed vehicle speeds and crash experience since raising the speed limit on these sections of interstates indicate operations have remained relatively unchanged from the prior speed limit and that the higher 80 mph speed limit is appropriate and should remain unchanged at this time.

Economic Emergency Permits
Economic emergency permits allow travel on a specific section of road with a vehicle combination that exceeds current legal requirements. The board delegated the authorization of these permits to staff, and staff will report on recent activity.

A number of permits were issued related to the declaration of emergency at the national level due to the Coronavirus. Twenty-six permits were issued to transport feed/livestock; 18 for fuel; 9 for food products; and 6 for general freight. Two state economic emergency permits were also issued. One was to a customer wishing to transport cattle from Oreana to Donnelly and New Meadows on ID-55 and the other was to transport coke, coal and soda ash on US-30 from the Wyoming border to the junction of ID-34 and on a portion of ID-34.

Published 10-09-20