MERIDIAN, Idaho — The city of Meridian, their police department and ITD are working to make Eagle Rd a safer highway for drivers. Proposed reduced speed limits during peak hours aim to improve driver's reaction time.
- Want to chime in? There will be two public open houses this week for residents to have their voices heard:
- Wednesday: August 28, 5-7 p.m. at Community Planning Association of Southwest Idaho, 700 NE 2nd Street, Meridian ID 83642.
- Thursday: August 29, 5-7 p.m. at Hilton Garden Inn, 145 Riverside Drive, Eagle ID 83616.
- Learn more from the Idaho Transportation Department on the Eagle Rd pilot project.
(Below is the transcript from the broadcast story)
About 60-thousand drivers use Eagle Road every day,
“It’s crazy, absolutely crazy,” said Nathan Bronson.
And now a pilot program plans to reduce speed limits in some places.
“There’s a couple different opinions, one is saying it would be great if we have a lower speed limit because the sheer number of crashes
Nathan Bronson, General Manager of the Krispy Kreme at the corner of Eagle and Fairview, tells me he has seen multiple crashes at the intersection in just the last few months.
“And then the opposite side is that, ‘things are changing too much, we ought to keep it at the standard that it’s been for years,’ and they don’t like the change. So, I see both sides,” said Bronson.
To find out more about why these changes are being considered, I asked those who see firsthand the number of reckless drivers and who respond to the scenes of crashes.
“I can tell you, as a police officer, and for our officers who respond, to some of these crashes on Eagle Rd, some of which have been fatalities, we know different," said Meridian police chief Tracy Basterrechea. He tells me it’s about reaction time, and he hopes lowering the speed limit by 10 miles per hour will create a safer roadway.
“Helping us avoid some of the crash that we’ve had, some of the people running red lights by slowing it down, giving them a little bit more reaction time and then of course if we do have a crash then, [with] the lower speed limits, hopefully the damage will be minimal,” said Chief Basterrechea.
Eagle Rd has 18 signals and Meridian says roughly 6.5 miles of the major roadway runs through their city…. And the number of drivers on the road “has doubled since 2000.” That’s why police are partnering with ITD for the pilot program.
“When Eagle Rd was designed and initially put in here, there were not all the housing developments around it and all the commercial businesses around it,” said Chief Basterrechea.
Also aiming to reduce car crashes, ITD will remove these four mid-block left-turns.
Those lowered speed limits are likely to impact peak hours including weekdays from 7 to 9 a-m, and between 4 and 6 in the afternoon.
Electronic signs will inform drivers of the changing speed limits.
The two-year pilot program is set to start in 2025 but drivers could see extra warning and safety signage along the road as early as this fall.
“Personally, I would like to see a little bit slower traffic over here. The reason being that I personally have lost people to crashes,” said Bronson.
