EAGLE, ID — The Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) started construction on an underpass on HWY 55 near Avimor.
- The underpass will allow Avimor residents to travel to the other side of Avimor across HWY 55.
- The construction on the road and underpass should be done by summertime and ready to use regularly by early fall.
- The project is run by ITD but fully funded by Avimor Development.
- Here is the link to the project website.
(Below is the transcript from the broadcast story)
A new way for Avimor residents to cross Highway 55 and avoid the traffic. ITD has started construction on an underpass for Highway 55 near Avimor. I spoke with the GM of Avimor Development for more information on this project.
One resident said, "I love living in an area that is not densely populated."
In the 1880s a small ranching community was built where the Avimor neighborhood spreads today. However, it is Colin McLeod, an immigrant who settled down in the small valley that created the image for the community.
"The McLeod family bought the property up there in 1916. The McLeods had a vision of having hamlets and villages connected by trails, where people could go from one to another without crossing major highways," explained Avimor Development GM, Brad Pfannmuller.
That vision is now in full effect as ITD is working to build an underpass preventing drivers, hikers, and horse riders, from jamming up Highway 55 while trying to cross.
I sat down with Brad Pfannmuller to understand just how this underpass would work.
Pfannmuller explained, "What it would be is to get into Howell Station from either side, there is a right in right out only."
Let me walk you through what this would look like. Driving north on 55 you would take the exit ramp onto North McLeod Way, which would lead to a roundabout allowing you to either go back to the highway or if you go a little farther north it will wrap you around to the underpass letting you into the other side of Avimor without having to go across highway traffic.
"By summer they want to have the underpass bridge constructed so that they start repaving Highway 55, it will be done and all they have to do is repave right over the top of it," said Pfannmuller.
Pfannmuller also says that they plan on moving and expanding the highway to help with traffic flow as the highway becomes busier from population growth.
The same resident told me, "I think that we are already at a point population size-wise, that it would make sense to have two lanes going both directions and have more safety features like the median."
According to Pfannmuller the underpass and highway should be usable by early fall of 2024.
