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ITD welcomes comments on corridor plans for north-central Idaho

ITD is seeking public comment on draft corridor plans for 16 highways in north-central Idaho. The plans include potential construction and maintenance projects for each highway during the next 10 years.

The department will accept comments on the draft plans until Jan. 28.

The highway corridors are arranged into five studies, or plans:

U.S. 95 from Adams County to the Goff Bridge north of Riggins
U.S. 95 from the Goff Bridge to Benewah County
U.S. 12 from the Washington state line to the Clearwater National Forest east of Kooskia
Idaho 8 from the Washington State line to Troy, and
14 other state highway corridors in north-central Idaho grouped under a Low Volume/Narrow Roadways category.

District 2 Senior Planner Ken Helm said the department received 175 written responses to surveys and spoke with about 200 people at public meetings during the past year.

"Because the budget is so tight, we need to be very careful when choosing which projects receive funding," Helm said. "We made a big effort to coordinate with agencies, local jurisdictions and the public during the planning process."

The process included a technical analysis of existing conditions, traffic, environmental factors and economic forecasts. Potential projects include passing and vehicle climbing lanes, shoulder and guardrail improvements, drainage control and rockfall control.

All five draft plans are available for viewing on the ITD website ( itd.idaho.gov ); choose the appropriate region and corridor under "projects" from the dropdown menu at the top of the main page.To request a printed copy of any draft corridor plan, ask questions or submit comments, contact Ken Helm by e-mail at:
D2CorridorContact@itd.idaho.gov or by phone at (208) 799-5090.

Those interested in sending in comments using traditional mail can download comment forms by clicking on: draft corridor study comment form.