BOISE - House lawmakers marked the end of an era Monday, voting 42-28 for the final installment of the $855 million "Connecting Idaho" road-building program whose debt provisions made it one of the most disputed programs in state history when it was begun six years ago.

This year's money goes to two stretches of U.S. Highway 95 in North Idaho near Sandpoint and Worley, as well as improvements to state Highway 16 to help link Emmett to Interstate 84 in southwestern Idaho.

Connecting Idaho has been disputed since 2005, when then-Gov. Dirk Kempthorne proposed selling bonds to construct roads more quickly than with annual appropriations, improving safety and speeding over-the-road commerce. That riled not only anti-debt conservatives, but also served to highlight the provincial animosities that dominate Idaho's highway debate, as lawmakers in regions that haven't gotten projects felt they got a raw deal.

"It's loved by representatives that have a project in the area, they always love this," said Rep. Leon Smith, R-Twin Falls and a critic, during Monday's debate. "And it's loved by ITD because it allows them to build projects."

Though the funding still must survive the Senate, lawmakers there have historically passed the bill more willingly than their House counterparts.

Observers of Monday's House debate could hear the relief in some representatives' voices at finally washing their hands of having to vote annually on the program.

"This is the last corridor - this is it," said Rep. Maxine Bell, R-Jerome. "I've held my nose and voted for this ever since (Kempthorne) brought this up."

Connecting Idaho has funded projects in six corridors over the years: On U.S. 95 and state Highway 16; on several stretches of Interstate 84 near Boise, Nampa and Caldwell; and on U.S. 30 between McCammon and Soda Springs in southeastern Idaho.

Even so, Kempthorne's brainchild has been a drama magnet from the outset in 2005, when his original $1.7 billion proposal included 13 projects sprinkled from Idaho's far north to its southeastern corner - a "Christmas tree approach," some critics charged, that gave every region a little something in order to speed its passage through the Legislature.

Those projects were eventually whittled down, however, with a new highway north of Emmett and a bridge over the Snake River at Twin Falls among the victims.

In late 2005, the program produced even more controversy: Kempthorne's staff conceded that the governor's roads adviser, Lance Giles, telephoned members of the Idaho Transportation Board before a key vote on a project management deal worth tens of millions. Giles told at least one board member he favored giving the contract to a Boise-based company, Washington Group International, over a rival from New York, raising questions of improper influence.

Washington Group hired Giles in mid-2006.

Mistrust and disagreement over the how much money to approve delayed adjournment of both the 2006 and 2007 legislatures.

And in 2009, former Idaho Transportation Department director Pam Lowe sued the state on grounds that she was fired because she wouldn't bow to political pressure from Gov. Butch Otter's administration to protect Washington Group's management contract. Her lawsuit is still in federal court.

Connecting Idaho still sticks in the craw of debt-hating Idaho Republicans who feel it undercut the Legislature's time-honored pay-as-you-go tradition. That tenor was struck again by some GOP lawmakers during Monday's House debate.

"I'm ashamed to tell people this is an exception to the statutory requirement, and I don't know where the end will be," said Rep. Ken Andrus, R-Lava Hot Springs.

With annual debt service rising to $65 million - about a quarter of Idaho's annual federal highway appropriation - some legislators also fear the specter of reduced funding from Washington, D.C., that could leave Idaho unable to cover the bond payments and find the cash for other necessary highway projects.

"We can't just keep on kicking the can down the road and borrowing from some future well that's going to go dry," said Rep. Steve Hartgen, R-Twin Falls.

Still, Connecting Idaho has won over some archconservatives who insist the state could never have moved so much earth if it had stuck to its old funding formula.

Rep. Marv Hagedorn, a Republican whose district in Meridian has benefited from Connecting Idaho-financed efforts to alleviate rush-hour traffic jams, has concluded that financing about 50 years' worth of road work with 4 percent bonds was the right thing to do.

"Color me stupid, but as a businessman I would do that," Hagedorn said. "It makes good fiscal sense."