For the week of September 18 - 24, 2002

New Highway 75 
bridge almost done

ITD hopes to open new lanes next week

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By GREGORY FOLEY
Express Staff Writer

The long-awaited completion of a state project to widen Highway 75 from just north of Ohio Gulch Road to Timber Way could come by next Monday, an Idaho Transportation Department official said this week.

Tom Logan, ITD project manager, said road crews were scheduled this week to smooth out the surface of new asphalt installed on the west side of highway, and would then remove much of the existing lane striping along the east side of the roughly two-mile stretch so new lanes and signals can be painted.

"We’ve still got some extensive repairs to make," Logan said. "I would say we would open the new lanes to traffic by the 23^rd at the soonest."

Logan said road crews will also work over the next several days to install new traffic lights at the intersection of Highway 75 and East Fork Road, install traffic signs on the sides of the route and prepare the surrounding area for landscaping.

The new section of highway will essentially expand the highway to include three traffic lanes—two northbound and one southbound—from a point just north of Ohio Gulch Road to Greenhorn Gulch Road, after which it will be widened to five lanes through its intersection with East Fork Road.

The five-lane section will include two northbound and two southbound traffic lanes, plus a fifth lane in the center designed to accommodate turning vehicles.

Work on the stretch of road also included the reconstruction and expansion of the bridge over the Big Wood River at Greenhorn Gulch. When the project is completed, the bridge will provide two northbound traffic lanes physically separated from a single southbound lane.

Logan said ITD has been working with the Blaine County Recreation District to design an appropriate landscaping plan for the area around the new Greenhorn Gulch Bridge, East Fork Road intersection and a bicycle and pedestrian tunnel under the highway near East Fork Road.

A variety of trees and shrubs will be planted in the area, and a corresponding irrigation system will be installed, Logan said.

The landscaping work will be the focus of the project after the new lanes are opened to motorists, and should be completed before the onset of winter, he noted.

 

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