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U.S. 95 traffic rerouted, construction next two nights

by MADISON HARDY
Staff Writer | June 15, 2021 1:00 AM

Nighttime travelers heading north should be wary tonight and tomorrow night as construction will have U.S. 95 and Old Highway 95 closed from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. both days.

An update from the Idaho Transportation Department notified drivers that traffic would not safely run on the two highways as crews build a foundation for the Garwood Road overpass.

Instead, pedestrian, non-motorized and motorized traffic will need to take a detour from Abbott Road to the ID-53 interchange through Pope Road — a new roadway on the east side of U.S. 95. 

Access to U.S. 95 at Garwood is permanently removed. Construction is also ongoing on Lekstrum Road — a new connector between Garwood Road and Old Highway 95. 

Traffic on Old Highway 95 can pass through the area but cannot turn onto Garwood, as the road is closed until August. 

The closure marks the final phase of roadway improvements on U.S. 95 in conjunction with the Garwood Road overpass project started by ITD in summer 2019. Those improvements, the ITD website says, were approved in 2010 after being identified in an environmental document plan for future regional needs. 

“When all construction is complete, U.S. 95 will be safer and more efficient with new frontage roads, a new interchange, a new overpass, and a greater speed limit of 70 mph north of Boekel Road,” the project description reads. “With the two signals removed from U.S. 95, the last signal heading north from Coeur d’Alene to Sandpoint will be at Lancaster Road.”

Since beginning the project, ITD crews have:

• Installed a temporary signal at ID-53 and Ramsey Road

• Widened and realigned ID-53

• Replaced the bridge over the Union Pacific Railroad

• Extended Government Way north of ID-53 (renamed as Pope Road) to serve as a frontage road

Crews have been working on the overpass structure since March, the update says, and this week the team will install reinforced concrete girders to support the bridge.

ITD anticipates construction completion this fall.