Detour set at East Fork
By TRAVIS PURSER
Express Staff Writer
Golden Eagle Ranch II construction and Highway 75
expansion at Greenhorn Road, about five miles south of Ketchum, have
created a flurry of earth work.
Some traffic delays are expected this summer while the
Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) widens the two-lane Greenhorn bridge
to four lanes and widens other two-lane sections of the highway to three
lanes.
A two-lane detour is planned this summer
from Greenhorn Road to East Fork Road. Express photos by Travis Purser
The speed limit from Alturas Drive to Timber Way has been
reduced from 55 mph to 45 mph, with the Blaine County Sheriff’s Office
promising stiff penalties for violations.
ITD project inspector Tom Logan said it’s time to pave
and stripe a two-lane "detour" along the west side of the
highway from East Fork Road to Greenhorn Road.
While he anticipates two lanes of travel being open at all
times during construction, Logan said drivers should expect short delays
caused by flaggers stopping traffic to allow construction trucks onto the
highway.
Work has been occurring Monday through Friday from 7 a.m.
until 5 p.m., with intentional traffic disruption allowed only during the
non-rush-hour period from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
By fall 2002, the ITD plans to have added two northbound
lanes to the highway from Alturas Drive to East Fork. Plans include
lowering the highway by six feet near East Fork Road and possibly
constructing four turn lanes at the East Fork intersection. A traffic
light may also be installed.
Excavators remove portions of berms
along Greenhorn Road to comply with county-approved plans.
While the highway work takes place, workers building the
Golden Eagle Ranch II subdivision are reducing the size of outsized berms.
The county required developer Harry Rinker to bond $2.4 million to
guarantee that the berms, built last summer at up to double the heights
approved by the planning and zoning commission in 1998, would be reduced
to their approved size.
On Monday, surveyor Josh Erickson used highly precise
Global Positioning System equipment to stake out correct elevations within
a three-inch degree of accuracy.
Meanwhile, excavation crews all but removed the berms
along Greenhorn Road using a backhoe to work around gas, electricity,
water, cable and fiber-optic lines buried in the berms.
Project construction manager Randy Purdy said the berm
work should be completed in about a month.
When asked how he feels about having to redo the
earthwork, he said, "It’s definitely not improving the project, but
it’s satisfying the neighbors."
