Changes to access in Highway 53 work zone
Coeur d'Alene Press | UPDATED 6 days, 17 hours AGO
HAUSER — Major traffic changes are ahead on Highway 53 near the future Pleasant View Interchange, according to a press release from the Idaho Transportation Department.
Work has been ongoing since 2024 to build a new interchange to provide safer access, better mobility for drivers, and eliminate three at-grade railroad crossings for safety.
Impacts to turn lanes at Cloverleaf Road and Hauser Lake Road started Wednesday. Additional changes at Hauser Lake Road and Hollister Hills Road will start in the second week of May and will include relocating access to SH-53.
The center acceleration lane at Cloverleaf Road is closed for about a month.
• As of Wednesday, the center left turn lane on SH-53 at Hauser Lake Road will close for up to one week until access is shifted to a new safer location to the east. Drivers should use extra caution in this area and remain alert for turning vehicles that may be slowing or stopping in the travel lanes.
• Starting the second week of May, all traffic from Hauser Lake Road and Hollister Hills Road will be directed via a new connector road to a temporary intersection to access the highway. Access to and from the highway will no longer be allowed at either Hauser Lake Road or Hollister Hills Road. This new, temporary intersection will offer improved visibility and safer turning conditions. Drivers will use this intersection until the interchange becomes operational later this summer.
Access to all businesses on Hauser Lake Road will remain open.
While the new interchange is set to open for traffic this summer, overall completion of the project is expected to be in spring of 2027, ITD said.
Final work extending into next year will focus on closing adjacent at-grade railroad crossings at McGuire Road and Prairie Avenue and instead directing local traffic onto the new interchange.
The project was made possible through a federal grant awarded by the Federal Railroad Administration in 2023, with additional support from BNSF Railway and the Post Falls Highway District.
"This $30 million investment fulfills a long-term vision first identified in the 2006 Bridging the Valley Study to separate vehicle and rail traffic across the region for safety," the release said.