Most highway construction to take break for holiday Work will be suspended on all ITD highway construction projects statewide for the Fourth of July holiday weekend, except in special circumstances. In most cases, work will resume Tuesday (July 6). ITD requires contractors on highway construction projects to suspend work on any roadway open to the traveling public during the holiday, except for normal maintenance operations. That includes any day of a three-day holiday weekend or July 3-5, unless otherwise permitted. Some of those rare conditions in which work may continue are:
"The contractor is just like anybody else, and has no interest in working over the holiday," said ITD Chief Engineer Tom Cole. "Most would probably take these days off even if it was not required to keep the road open to travelers." If Fourth of July weekend plans include travel on Idaho 55, ITD asks motorists to avoid the heaviest traffic by traveling outside peak travel times or by using alternate routes. ITD again will provide flaggers to help traffic flow. An Incident Response vehicle also will be on hand. "Congestion is heaviest in this area, as travelers from the Garden Valley area access Idaho 55," said ITD Maintenance Engineer Gary Moles. "We want everyone to have a safe and fun weekend." During holiday weekends about three times the amount of traffic travels on those roads as compared to the average day. On Fourth of July last year, more than 3,000 vehicles traveled the Banks-to-Lowman road (versus 1,500 average) and nearly 9,300 were southbound on Idaho 55 (vs. 2,800 average). All ITD projects will be suspended during the holiday and many will resume July 6. The transportation department offers the following tips for holiday weekend travelers:
Published 7-2-2010 |