The Idaho Transportation Department held a series of open houses this week to inform the public of their plans for the I-84 expansion from Karcher to Franklin Boulevard.
They say they will be adding a third lane in both directions, as well as an auxiliary lane, to help combat congestion between on and off ramps, and to help with safety.
ITD’s Jake Melder says their plan is expected to facilitate growth in the area for many years to come.
"We are designing this to last until 2045. We're looking at what the future growth is in the area and what the traffic impact could be, and our goal is to provide quality level of service until that year,” says Melder.
In order to help alleviate traffic concerns during the project, he says they will add temporary shoulders to the sides of the freeway, in order to keep two lanes open in each direction during peak hours of the day.
Construction of the temporary lanes will begin this fall, followed by the work to add the permanent lanes to the freeway, which begins in the spring.
That wasn’t the only topic of discussion at the open houses, ITD also wanted input from the public on an extended expansion, going from the Karcher interchange to Caldwell.
They say they have an additional $193 million to execute this additional plan.
