Public hearing will be held Jan. 31 on U.S. 95 improvements

COEUR d’ALENE— The Idaho Transportation Department is having an open house to share information and answer questions about proposed improvements to the section of U.S. 95 between Interstate 90 and Idaho Highway 53 in Kootenai County. The Wednesday, Jan. 31, hearing will be at the Idaho Transportation Department District 1 office at 600 W. Prairie Ave. in Coeur d’Alene from 4 to 7 p.m.

ITD is planning $8.5 million in traffic congestion reducing improvements in the 8.9-mile corridor from Interstate 90 to Highway 53 that are slated to be constructed in 2019.

The project is proposed to include:

- removing existing traffic signals at Canfield and Bosanko

- adding signals at Wilbur and Miles

- extending Wilbur from U.S. 95 to Government Way

- adding a curbed median like the one constructed at Lacey at the intersections of Cherry, Haycraft, Bosanko, Canfield, Aqua, Orchard, Dakota and Boekel.

The improvements are designed to address heavy traffic on U.S. 95. The average daily traffic flow at the intersection of U.S 95 and Kathleen in 2016 was about 41,000 vehicles per day with peak-hour flows at 5,120 vehicles per hour.

The project is slated to begin in the summer of 2019. The highway will be improved with $5.1 million from the FASTLANE grant, a federal grant, $2.5 million from ITD, $672,300 from the city of Coeur d’Alene, and $177,700 from the city of Hayden.

For more information on the project or to comment online, visit http://itd.idaho.gov/d1/, choose “Projects” and then choose US-95: N Corridor Access Improvements or visit the project website.